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Japanese contract law

Japanese contract law forms a distinct branch within the broader world of civil law jurisprudence, initially derived primarily from German jurisprudence adopted in the aftermath of the Meiji Restoration. While the basic rules of Japanese contract law are prescribed in the Japanese Civil Code (together with the rules underpinning other areas of private law, including tort and family law), more detailed rules concerning commercial contracts are prescribed in the Japanese Commercial Code. A contract under Japanese law is formed by way of offer and acceptance as in most jurisdictions; however, a written document is not a prerequisite for the existence of a contract, which comes into being based on the principle of consensualism. Under Japanese contract law, alignment between the intentions of the parties to a contract is thus considered vital and contracts may be voided depending on the circumstances where a party conceals its true intentions, intentionally or fraudulently manifests false intentions, mistakenly manifests false intentions, or is coerced into manifesting false intentions. Contracts which violate mandatory prescriptions of law, as well as contracts which violate public policy, may be deemed void ab initio to the extent of the violation.