Hirotaka Honda — 本多広高
Barrister and Solicitor / Attorney at Law
Hirotaka Honda has expert knowledge and extensive experience in family law and Wills, Trusts & Estates. He has taken a lot of cases of divorce/dissolution, family violence/abuse and especially child abduction. Around half of his clients use English as the first language and come from common law countries.
He specializes in international child abduction and relocation cases. He has been taking Hague Convention 1980 cases since he got the first return order from Englan to Japan after Japan concluded the convention.
He has been committed to LGBT issues. He believes that diversity and equality is all about family law.
Families and assisted reproduction is also his concern. It is always good for a child to be born in this world.
He often handles children's' rights, criminal cases, harassment cases, contracts, torts and corporations. When defending children in juvenile courts, he always believes the child will sure to grown up more.
He conducts matters in a constructive and non-confrontational way.
He is qualified as a Cross-Boarder Family Mediator according to the standards of MiKK (Mediation in International Family Matters).
Professional History
2010 Honda Law Office — Founder
2007 Midori Kyodo Law Office — Partner
2005 Hibiya Mitsuke Law Office — Associate
2005 Admitted to the Tokyo Bar Association
2004–2005 Legal Apprentice of The Legal Training and Research Institute of Japan (paid)
2003 Passed the National Bar Examination
Educational History
Apr. 2004 – Sept. 2005 Legal Apprentice of The Legal Training and Research Institute of Japan
Mar 1997 LL.M. the University of Tokyo Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, Japan, after master program of the school from Apr. 1994 to Mar. 1997, master’s thesis was on fiduciary duty of Trustees under American trust law
Mar 1990 LL.B. The University of Tokyo Faculty of Law
Activity and Community
Sexual Equality Committee (2006- ; 2013–2014 Chair, 2008-2013, 2014- Vice Chair), Children's Rights Committee (2007-) and Civil Procedure Committee (2011-2019) of the Tokyo Bar Association
Chair of the Sexual Harassment and Sex Discrimination Investigating Committee of Tokyo Bar Association 2013–
Hague Convention 1980 Lawyers Referral Committee of Tokyo Bar Association 2013–
Member of Children’s Human Rights Center of Tokyo Bar Association (2007–)
Family Law Study Group of the Tokyo Bar Association
Delegate of the Tokyo Bar Association 2012 and 2019
Human Rights Committee (2007–), Sexual Equality Committee (2012–) and civil procedure committee (2014–) of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA)
Chair of the Project Team on LGBT rights of JFBA 2015–
Chair of the Committee of JFBA on Human Rights Petition to seek same sex marriage (The opinion on the marriage of same sex persons of JFBA)
Hague Convention 1980 Working Group of JFBA 2013–
Attorney-Client Privilege Working Group of JFBA 2014–
Delegate of Japan Federation of Bar Associations 2012 and 2019
Member of Japanese American Society for Legal Studies
Member of Japan Association of the Law of Civil Procedure
Temporary lecturer in Civil Procedure Law at Seikei University in 2009
IBA - International Bar Association : Member 2009–; Officer of the Family Law Committee 2013–2015; officer of the LGBT committee 2017-
ABA - American Bar Association : Associate Member 2013-
International Academy of Family Lawyers: Fellow 2018–
Reunite International — helping families on child abduction: listed lawyer 2011–
MiKK e.V. — mediation, providing support, advice and referrals in cases of cross-border child abduction, as well as visitation and custody conflicts: listed lawyer 2014–
Amnesty International Japan : board member (internal auditor) 2014–
Articles and Presentations
Deciding on Habitual Residence of the Hague Child Abduction Convention, Japanese Yearbook of Private International Law 24 (Private International Law Association of Japan 2022).
Comparative study on the requrement of sterilization to change legal gender, The 20th Study Conference Symposium of the Japanese Society of Gender Identity Disorder on 24 March, 2018
The implementation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980n in Japan, ABA Section of International Law Fall 2016 Meeting at Hilton Tokyo on 20 October, 2016
Gender Identity and Gender Recognition Act (Seidouituseishougaisha no Seibetu no Toriatukai no Tokurei ni Kansuru Houritu), Liberty & Justice, Japan Federation of Bar Associations, Vol. 67 No. 8 Aug 2016 at 25-29
International relocation of children law in Japan: overview, in Anna Worwood ed. International Relocation of Children: A Global Guide From Practical Law (Thomson Reuters 2016)
International relocation of children law in Japan: overview, in Practical Law of Thomson Reuters
Presentation, How to Fulfill it Sophisticatedly in Japan ?, the session “The Promise of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention in Asia” in the conference “International Families: Money, Children and Long Term Planning” ABA at Seattle on 20 June 2014
Q & A on successions in, Q & A on Family Procedure ActSankyouhouki 2013
Part 1 of domestic violence in “Domestic Violence and Sexual Harassment Manual” Shoujihoumu 2012
Chair of the symposiumLawyers Who are Raising Children and Gender Equality Libra Vol.12 No.7 Tokyo Bar Association July 2012
2012.3.24 Conclusion of the Symposium “Rights of Sexual Minorities”, Tokyo Bar Association
2011.7.11 He played a lawyer who mentors young lawyers in a drama on child abuse, Tokyo Bar Association
He wrote a half of the domestic violence part of “Practitioner's Guide to Domestic Violence, Child Abuse and Elder Abuse Cases”(Shinnipponhoki 2009)
Some sections of “Legal Advice for Women” (Gyosei 2009)
Some sections of “Legal Advice for Lessors and Lessees of a Flat or a Room of an Office Building” (Seirin Shoin 2008)
“The Divorce Procedure after the KajiJikenTetuduki (Family Cases Procedure) Act” session of the 2011 Summer Seminar of the Tokyo Bar Association
MC of the “Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and rights of women and children” session of the 2010 Summer Seminar of the Tokyo Bar Association
“Child Support Schemes in U.S.” session of the 2008 Summer Seminar of the Tokyo Bar Association
Misc
He likes computers and networking very much. In 2007, he passed the Fundamental Information Technology Engineer Examination. He sometimes enjoys typography.