Divorce in Japan: any lessons for England and Wales.

Considerable discussion followed publication of the Lord Chancellor's proposals for divorce law reform in England and Wales, set out in the Green Paper "Looking to the Future: Mediation and the Ground for Divorce". The Green Paper contained two key elements. These were the abolition of fault based grounds for divorce , and a central , although not compulsory , role for mediation. It may be of some possible interest to consider divorce in Japan where the overwhelming majority of divorces are by mutual agreement, the concept of fault only applies to certain financial aspects of divorce and where mediation, conducted formally or informally, is crucial.