Japan prepares æNo ActionÆ law

Navigating Japan’s byzantine regulatory system is a murky, frustrating and costly endeavour for any foreign business, whether in financial services, telecoms, pharmaceuticals or automobiles. The written laws are often modelled or simply copied from third countries, but the translation ends up vague or ambiguous, leaving various ministries wide scope to interpret these laws and draft ordinances – an opportunity they have always seized. These rules tend to be inflexible and difficult for foreign businesses to interpret.