Litigation in Japan

To quote from a book I just finished reading:

"It has been said that to file a suit in Japan is an act bordering on masochism... If the participants are lucky, the plaintiff and the defendant might make one appearance in court a month. Usually, however, it is more like once every three or four months, because either side can delay matters by claiming illness, unavoidable absence from the county, or general inconvenience... Given appeals... quite literally lifetimes can be spent in litigation."

It makes sense then if, say, an apartment building's ownership is being debated in the court of law between two rival groups of dubious origins, that the tenants, who are relatively oblivious to the warring landowners, might not have to worry about a settlement anytime soon.

It's quite fitting that the book is "Tokyo Underworld", a book about the rise of groups of dubious origins in post-war Tokyo.

I want to write about all the crazy shit that goes on at my apartment building, but I'll wait until the story is over...