Japanese personal-injury quantum is set against the 赤い本 (Akai-bon) — the Tokyo District Court's annual table of compensation by disability grade, applied throughout Japan.
Japan operates under a civil-law tort framework anchored to Article 709 of the Civil Code (民法). Personal-injury quantum is heavily structured. The 赤い本 (Akai-bon, "Red Book"), published annually by the Tokyo Bar Association civil traffic accident research centre, sets the standard table of compensation by disability grade used across Japan; the 青本 (Aoi-bon, "Blue Book") provides the alternative reference for the Osaka region.
Compensation is split between pecuniary loss (medical expenses, lost earnings, future earning loss using a Hoffman or Leibniz coefficient) and non-pecuniary loss (慰謝料, isharyō — pain and suffering). The Akai-bon prescribes isharyō by disability grade (1 to 14) for traffic-related cases and provides indicative bands for non-traffic personal injury.
Statute of limitations is three years from the date the harm and the responsible party became known, with a cap of 20 years from the act under Civil Code Article 724.
Indicative settlement values, sourced to the authority documents above. These are starting points for valuation, not quotes for any specific case.
| Injury type | Band | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Whiplash (Grade 14 — minor) | ¥500,000 – ¥1,200,000 | Akai-bon Grade 14 isharyō |
| Whiplash (Grade 12 — persistent) | ¥2,500,000 – ¥3,500,000 | Akai-bon Grade 12 isharyō |
| Back — moderate (Grade 10–11) | ¥4,000,000 – ¥6,500,000 | Akai-bon Grade 10–11 isharyō plus pecuniary |
| Severe brain injury (Grade 1–3) | ¥18,000,000 – ¥80,000,000+ | Akai-bon top grades plus future loss using Leibniz coefficient |
| Femur fracture (Grade 12) | ¥2,500,000 – ¥4,000,000 | Akai-bon Grade 12 |
| Medical negligence (non-fatal) | ¥5,000,000 – ¥30,000,000 | Reported decisions; isharyō uplift common |
Civil Code art. 724
Limitation runs from the date both the harm and the responsible party were known.
Civil Code art. 722(2). Strict liability for motor vehicles under the Automobile Liability Security Law (自賠法).
Caps that bite on damages awards in Japan, ordered by impact.
CALI is the compulsory layer; voluntary insurance covers excess. The figures are statutory caps on CALI cover, not on damages.
The procedural pathway from injury to settlement under Japan law.
Most claims settle directly with the at-fault driver's liability insurer using Akai-bon as the reference.
Out-of-court ADR through the Japan Center for Settlement of Traffic Accident Disputes (交通事故紛争処理センター).
If ADR fails, suit filed in the Summary Court (≤¥1.4M), District Court (above), or family court depending on parties.
Bench trial; appellate review through the High Court and Supreme Court.
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Vocabulary that comes up in any conversation about claim value in this jurisdiction.
Every claim turns on its own facts: severity, prognosis, recovery time, the medical paper trail, lost income, the applicable cap, and the published band that most closely matches. The figures on this page are illustrative aggregates, not a quote. For representation, consult a solicitor or attorney qualified in Japan. See our disclaimer for the full scope of what we do and don't do.