The three advantages of Nakamura International Criminal Defense
1. Proven Results in Criminal Defense
Since our founding in 2009, criminal defense has been at the core of our practice. In Japan, roughly 99% of prosecuted cases end in conviction; against that background, we have won 15 acquittals at trial. We have also secured non-prosecution in more than 1,500 cases, appeared in 23 lay judge (saiban-in) trials - the court that hears serious charges such as stimulant smuggling - and advised on over 30,000 matters in total. Our clients include many non-Japanese nationals, in drug, violent, and sexual offence cases among others.
2. Anticipating How Investigators Think and Act
Our practice was founded by a lawyer who had served as a public prosecutor, and that grounding shapes how we work: we anticipate what evidence investigators seek and when key decisions are made. The response to questioning in the days immediately after arrest often determines the outcome, so we set a strategy early and make submissions to the authorities at each stage.
3. Clarity at Every Step, Confidence in Your Defense
Japan's criminal process differs fundamentally from that of most other countries, and it can be hard to know what comes next. We are able to explain your case directly in English, and we make a point of telling you where matters stand and what may follow, through detention visits and meetings. With your consent, we also keep family members overseas informed, taking time differences into account.
If your family travels to Japan to see you, we explain how visits work at police detention facilities and detention houses, what may be brought in for you, and we can accompany them where needed. After release, we also assist as required with matters relating to your passport and immigration status, including dealings with the Immigration Services Agency and arrangements for returning home.
First, Understand How Japan's System Differs
Japan's criminal procedure differs fundamentally from that of most other countries. There is no bail before indictment, so a suspect can be held for up to 23 days per allegation before any charge is filed. Defense lawyers are, as a rule, not allowed to be present during interrogation. A statement signed during questioning - drafted in Japanese, in the investigator's words - becomes powerful evidence that is very difficult to retract at trial. Even the well-known "99% conviction rate" means something quite different from what many people assume.
Facing this system with assumptions carried over from your home country is dangerous in both directions. Some people sign documents they should not sign, or expect a quick release that the law does not provide, and end up making choices that cannot be undone. Others, hearing only the alarming numbers, fall into anxiety far greater than their situation actually calls for - when in reality their case may well end without indictment, or with a suspended sentence.
What protects you from both mistakes is timely and accurate explanation and advice from a lawyer who knows the system. Our stage-by-stage guide to criminal procedure in Japan - from arrest and interrogation through bail, trial, and appeal, including the issues specific to foreign nationals - explains what happens, when it happens, and what you will need to decide.
Lawyers Who Deliver Results
Our lawyers have built their records in the most demanding areas of criminal defense. They have won not-guilty verdicts at trial, including in sexual offence and assault cases; had convictions overturned on appeal, replacing prison time with suspended sentences; and secured non-prosecution in numerous cases through persistent negotiation with victims. They have appeared in lay judge trials for the most serious charges - homicide, robbery causing injury, and commercial drug importation among them - and have handled many matters involving foreign nationals, from the criminal case itself through immigration proceedings such as deportation and provisional release.
Behind these results is a consistent way of working: reading the record and the evidence more closely than anyone else in the courtroom; negotiating patiently where negotiation serves the client, and contesting without compromise where it does not; and staying close to each client - explaining in plain language what is happening and what comes next - from the first day of a case to its last.
Meet the lawyers who will stand beside you.
Trusted by Those We Have Defended
In criminal defense, speed and precision decide outcomes. We act within the first hours of being retained - visiting the client, advising them before the next interrogation, and opening communication with the prosecutor - and we build a strategy fitted to the individual case rather than applying a formula. Working this way, we have earned the gratitude of many clients and their families, in Japan and overseas.
The results speak most clearly: releases without indictment, suspended sentences, acquittals. From among the many cases we have handled, the following page introduces a selection of representative examples - what we have achieved for people who once stood exactly where you stand now.
