A panel of the Justice Ministry's Legislative Council has begun discussing revisions to the law of obligations, which sets down rules related to personal liability for sales and other commercial contracts. The discussions come at the request of Justice Minister Keiko Chiba.

The law of obligations was enacted in 1896 and is part of the Civil Code, which came into effect in 1898. Revisions to the law would represent the first major reform of the civil law system. The social circumstances surrounding the law of obligations have changed greatly changed since 1896: commercial transactions are far more complex, and are more often international in scope. Today there is also more attention paid to the rights of consumers.

As it stands, the Civil Code is hard for lay people to understand and lacks specificity. For example, Article 415 of the Civil Code says that if a debtor fails to fulfill the "main object" of an obligation, a creditor can file a damages claim. But there are no explanations as to what qualifies as the "main object." Any changes proposed by the panel will need to cite legal precedent and established custom to bridge the gap between today's society and a law that is more than a century old.