Cooling-off is a consumer protection mechanism under the Specified Commercial Transactions Act. After entering into a contract through telephone solicitation or door-to-door sales, a consumer may withdraw the application or cancel the contract without giving any reason, within a set period counted from the day the statutory document is received. The point of the mechanism is to secure time to cool down and reconsider a contract signed on the spur of the moment under surprise solicitation. It does not reach contracts that fall outside the Act, such as transactions entered into for or as a business (Article 26).
The length of the period depends on the transaction type. For telephone solicitation sales it runs for eight days counted from the day the Article 19 document is received, or from the Article 18 document if that one arrived earlier (Article 24). Door-to-door sales likewise allow eight days (Article 9), as do specified continuous service offers (Article 48) and door-to-door purchasing (Article 58-14), while multilevel marketing transactions allow twenty days (Article 40) and business opportunity sales transactions twenty days (Article 58). In every case the clock starts from receipt of the statutory document rather than from the date of the contract, so while no document has been delivered the period does not begin.
Mail-order sales, including online shopping, have no cooling-off right. Such transactions are treated as ones the consumer applies for on their own judgment after seeing an advertisement, without the element of surprise. Instead, where the advertisement does not state a return policy, the consumer may withdraw the application or cancel the contract until eight days have passed from the day the goods were delivered, bearing the cost of return shipping (Article 15-3). Where a return policy is stated in the advertisement, the terms of that policy take precedence.
Notice may be given either by document or by electronic record (Article 24, paragraph 1). An electronic record means a record created in electronic, magnetic, or similar form that cannot be perceived by human senses and is used for information processing by computer, which covers notice sent by email or through a web form. The cancellation takes effect at the moment the notice by document or electronic record is dispatched (paragraph 2), so one posted or sent on the final day of the period is still valid. When sending a postcard, copying both sides and choosing a method that leaves a record of the dispatch date, such as recorded delivery or simplified registered mail, prepares you for a later claim that nothing arrived.
Once cooling-off is effective, the trader may not claim damages or a penalty (paragraph 3), must bear the costs needed to collect the goods or refund the price (paragraph 4), and must promptly return any money received (paragraph 6). Even if the goods have already been used, the trader cannot charge for the benefit obtained through that use or for services already provided (paragraph 5). Where the original state has been altered, for example by installation work, the consumer can require restoration free of charge (paragraph 7). Any special term contrary to these provisions that disadvantages the applicant is void (paragraph 8), so a clause in the contract stating that cooling-off is unavailable has no effect in itself. If the consumer failed to act within the period because they were told something contrary to fact about withdrawal, or were intimidated and distressed, the eight days instead run from the day they receive the corrective document the trader must then deliver. Even after the period has passed, a contract obtained through false statements may still be voidable under the Civil Code rules on fraud or under the Consumer Contract Act. If you have been pushed into an unwanted contract through vishing or aggressive telemarketing, the surest step is to call the consumer hotline (188) and have both the starting date and the contents of the document checked together. For the wider picture of your rights around solicitation calls, see Your Rights Under Japan's Specified Commercial Transactions Act - Phone Sales Edition.