He gave me an STI and has stopped responding.

I’m Paper Airplane, a male member. > Would it be possible to take legal action? It would be very difficult to prove that you contracted it from her. Since you knowingly took the risk by having intercourse—something that could have been prevented by not registering or by abstaining beforehand—pursuing that claim would likely be extremely difficult. Her lawyer would naturally argue that you were the one who transmitted it to her instead.

Maezawa from the CEO’s office here—I’ll answer as well. Thank you for your question. If you hire a lawyer, I think the legal fees could end up costing more than you recover, even if you win. In that case, rather than expecting the other person to pay upfront, it might be better to stay on good terms and recover the money through future allowances. However, he probably thinks that if you insist on using protection, there’s no point in meeting you. That said, if you don’t use protection, he’ll probably catch another infection from someone else and pass it on to you, so he’s a dangerous man. Since that means there’s no need to consider seeing him again, I think you should file the lawsuit yourself. Courts are fairly helpful these days, so if you make a mistake on the forms, the court clerks will kindly tell you how to correct it. The filing fee is around ¥10,000. It increases depending on the amount you’re claiming, so it will be slightly higher for a larger claim. In this case, including compensation for emotional distress, I imagine you’d be claiming around ¥2 million. (That’s only the amount being claimed. Even if you win, the court would probably only award around ¥100,000. Compensation for emotional distress is unfairly low in Japan.) In that case, the court costs would probably be around ¥20,000. The court’s website explains everything in detail, so you can find the exact amount by reading it. You’ll also need to provide postage stamps and enough money in advance to cover the cost of the court sending documents to the other party, but those details are listed as well. You can also ask directly at the courthouse, and they’ll tell you. They even sell the stamps in the same building. Good luck pursuing reimbursement for your medical expenses and compensation for emotional distress. If you find it too much trouble, hiring a lawyer will make things easier, but the usual arrangement is an initial fee of around ¥300,000 plus a contingency fee of a certain percentage if you win. Handling it yourself saves money, but you’ll need to argue your case logically, thoroughly research similar past rulings, and show examples of how courts have ruled in the past, or you may not win. In other words, you need to convince the judge that your claim is reasonable, based on rulings by other judges. Having similar precedents apparently makes judges feel more comfortable with their decision.

I’m Kazu, a male member. If you know who the person is, I think you can send a certified letter by registered mail directly to them if they stop responding.