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The story
In a lawsuit over a couple who canceled their wedding 344 days before the ceremony date, the venue operator sought a ¥1.28 million cancellation fee as stipulated in the contract — but the Tokyo District Court rejected the claim in a ruling dated September 29. The court held that, with cancellation nearly a year in advance, the venue would normally be able to resell the date to another booking. On 5ch, opinions split over whether any amount written into a contract is automatically valid, or whether excessive penalty fees can be legally voided, alongside complaints about typical wedding costs and the industry’s business practices.
Published 10/3 (Sat) 10:40
Bengo4.com News
In a lawsuit in which a venue operator sought roughly ¥1.28 million in cancellation fees from a couple who canceled their booking about a year before their wedding, the Tokyo District Court rejected the venue’s claim. The ruling is dated September 29.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Take a hint, duh (it's a pun — 'sasshiro' [take a hint] sounds like 'sasshi-ya' [sash shop])
Probably an engagement high.
Then reality hit once they saw the actual bill.
A year and a half out…
that's way too far in advance.
What if it said '500 million yen' in print too tiny to read? That'd be a problem 🥺
Even a rip-off bar can't just say 'this is our price, deal with it' and get away with it.
Actually it's booming right now because it's Instagrammable.
Multiple pre-wedding photo shoots, profile books, decorative panels for the big day —
more vendors have piled in, and more trouble has come with them.
Broke young people are just going to avoid it even more now.
That's pretty normal, actually.
Do it at a Disney-affiliated hotel and bring in Mickey, and you're looking at 8 million yen and up.
4 million is actually on the cheap side.
True, but if you're not happy with it, you've got the right to sue too.
There's a law that lets you void excessive penalty fees.
'I never knew you were this dependable when money was on the line!'
— and boom, there's a chance they get back together.
No telling if they were splitting the cost 50/50.
and I had to cancel too,
but they didn't charge me a thing…
So canceling last-minute actually gets you more sympathy?
Maybe if it's just the ceremony.
If a reception's booked too, it won't go that smoothly.
No way.
Cancel up to about 6 months out and you'd usually just lose a deposit of a few hundred thousand yen.
Either this place is crazy popular or they're just shady, who knows.
This is the same greedy industry that took full payment even during COVID, when nobody could hold a wedding at all.
None of the young people around me do it.
No one's going to admit the real reason to the people they don't want to invite, lol (i.e., some couples skip the ceremony just to dodge inviting people they'd rather not)
Even when the couple says they don't want one, it's pretty common for parents to push back with 'it's once in a lifetime.'
That's how you end up with a small, family-only ceremony.
People like that are exactly why exploitative companies never go away.
That's exactly why the pay-your-own-way party style is trending — just book a venue, order some food, that kind of thing.
Arranging all that is a hassle, so people pay the fee to have someone else handle it for them.
Photo-only weddings are the popular choice now.
Fewer and fewer people are throwing 4-million-yen ceremonies like this.
That's outdated.
Wedding fever is back up post-COVID —
popular hotels in Tokyo are already almost fully booked through 2027.
'Photo Weddings,' 'No-Ceremony Weddings': Shifting Values Keep Wedding Venues Struggling — Post-COVID Market Recovery Stuck at 80%
December 15, 2025, 5:00 AM
Even after the pandemic-era aversion to crowded gatherings faded, wedding venues are still struggling. Compounded by shifting values — including the spread of 'no-ceremony weddings,' where couples skip the ceremony altogether — the market has only recovered to 80% of its former size. With a string of major bankruptcies hitting the industry, operators have begun scrambling to survive.
Background and Talking Points
In disputes over cancellation fees, Article 9 of Japan’s Consumer Contract Act voids any portion of a penalty fee that exceeds the ‘average amount of damage’ actually incurred. This ruling appears to have rejected the ¥1.28 million claim on the grounds that, since the cancellation came 344 days before the ceremony, the venue could normally refill the date with another booking. The thread split between those arguing ‘if it’s written in the contract, it’s valid’ and those arguing ‘excessive penalty fees can be legally voided’ — the latter view is actually closer to how this plays out in practice. The article doesn’t specify the couple’s exact reason for canceling or the full details of the venue’s contract terms.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “Wedding Canceled ‘344 Days Before’ → Couple Billed ¥1.28 Million, Tokyo Court Rejects It: ‘Venue Can Normally Resell the Date’.”
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