In a highly unusual case that has surprised Japanese legal experts, a Turkish national based in Osaka sued a local second-hand car dealer for discrimination and won, all without the services of a lawyer.
Ibrahim Yener, 40, a Turk who works as an IT engineer in Osaka, went after the dealership when it refused, last October, to send him information on its different cars because it only served Japanese customers.
"They told me, via email, they were not dealing with non-Japanese people, even if a foreigner had taken Japanese citizenship, because of 'Japanese-language ability.' I knew that was just an excuse. They didn't talk to me, or have a conversation with me, so they can't judge my level of Japanese," Yener said.