The first oral argument for this case was held today (June 5, 2025) at 10:30 a.m. in Courtroom 703 of the Tokyo District Court.

In court, the plaintiffs presented a summary of their complaint , and the defendants presented their answer .
Afterwards, the plaintiffs, Mr. Matsumura and Mr. Kuramochi, and their attorney, Mr. Toda, each made statements of opinion and presented their complaint.
Please see below for details of the speeches given on the day.
(※Link: Mr. Matsumura , Mr. Kuramochi , Attorney Toda )

The court instructed the defendant/government to submit a written rebuttal by the next hearing, which is set for July 31.

After the hearing, we held a hearing report session to provide an overview of the trial and future prospects. Many people attended both sessions and lively discussions were held.

The next hearing will be held on September 2nd at 1:30 pm in Courtroom 703 of the Tokyo District Court.
We hope you will attend and participate in our next meeting as well. Thank you for your continued support.

▲With the plaintiffs and their lawyers in front of the court

▲With everyone who participated in the deadline report meeting

CALL4 prepared a report on the lawsuit press conference held on February 25th, which was published today.

Please take a look.

Lawsuit press conference report "Lawsuit to turn childcare fees into expenses" - February 25, 2025 @ Judicial Press Club

Thank you for your support of the "Make Childcare Fees an Expense! Lawsuit" campaign.

We are pleased to announce that this week on Tuesday, February 25th, we have filed a lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court entitled "Turn Childcare Fees into an Expense!"

A press conference was held at the Judicial Press Club at 2:00 p.m. on the same day.

At the press conference, attorneysEnatsu and Toda explained the details of the lawsuit and its legal significance.

Attorney Toda emphasized that this lawsuit has "legal significance" in that it raises new questions about what constitutes as necessary expenses and what constitutes as household expenses.

He also pointed out that the definition currently adopted by the tax office, which states that necessary expenses are only those directly related to business operations, is an overly narrow interpretation of necessary expenses.

In the first place, the High Court has ruled that even if an expenditure is not directly related to the business, it can be recognized as a necessary direct expense if there is a connection.

Despite this, the tax office still requires for a direct connection between business and expenses for it to be deemed as necessary expenses and therefore, still treats childcare fees as merely a household expense.

The attorneys also noted that another reason for the tax office not changing their decision in viewing the treatment of childcare fees as household expenses, or personal consumer expenditure,    is due to the still ingrained misogynistic belief that men earn money outside the home and women take on the housework and childcare duties unpaid.

Yet, currently in Japan, 70% of households have dual incomes.

The tax office's view of childcare fees as household expenses rather than necessary expenses should be corrected in order to maintain a balance between diverse working styles and childcare.

Therefore, it is important to clarify that childcare fees are necessary expenses and not household expenses.

One of the plaintiffs, Mr. Kuramochi, also attended the press conference. He mentioned, "Raising children is hard, but fun. That's why I wanted to be an opportunity for other people to take on the challenge."

Through the judicial system, we aim to settle the interpretation of "necessary expenses" and "household expenses" so that childcare fees can be deducted as expenses.

We appreciate your continued support.