Yoshikazu Kudo (not his real name) and his wife have both been deaf from birth. For decades they have lived at ease in an old but neat house built by Kudo's brother in Musashino, Tokyo. But things changed after the husband of Kudo's late sister disappeared, leaving behind over 80 million yen in debts.
In 1997, Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and Sanwa Bank filed lawsuits with the Tokyo District Court to enforce contracts that made Kudo responsible for up 20 million yen of his brother-in-law's debts and secured his house and land as collateral.
Using sign language Kudo, 75, said he did not even know he had signed contracts making him the guarantor of his brother-in-law's loans until he received a letter from the court and another sister explained the situation to him in sign language.