On 22 October 2026 the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) announced that it had issued a recommendation to Oji Container Co., Ltd. under Article 7(3) of the pre-amendment Subcontract Act. The case arose from a request for measures made to the JFTC by the Commissioner of the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency (SME Agency), after the SME Agency investigated the company.
This page summarises the JFTC press release, the attached announcement, recommendation and statutory extracts, and a leaflet published on the same day.
Overview
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Date announced | 22 October 2026 |
| Announced by | Japan Fair Trade Commission and SME Agency |
| Company | Oji Container Co., Ltd. (head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo) |
| Business | Manufacture and sale of corrugated board products, paper containers and similar products |
| Stated capital | JPY 10 billion |
| Legal basis of the recommendation | Article 7(3) of the pre-amendment Subcontract Act (applied as before under Article 2(2) of the Supplementary Provisions of the amending Act) |
| Request for measures | 14 September 2026, by the Commissioner of the SME Agency to the JFTC under Article 6 of the pre-amendment Act |
| Provision violated | Article 4(2)(iii) of the pre-amendment Subcontract Act (prohibition of unjust requests for economic benefits) |
| Subcontractors affected | 140 |
| Items stored | 9,610 printing plates, wooden dies and metal dies in total |
| Period | From at least 1 June 2024 to 26 November 2025 |
| Amount already paid | JPY 3,410,355 in total to 127 subcontractors by July 2026 |
Facts found
According to the announcement, Oji Container lent printing plates, wooden dies and metal dies ("plates and dies") owned by itself or by its customers to 140 subcontractors, and entrusted them with manufacturing corrugated board products, paper containers and similar products that the company had contracted to manufacture.
From at least 1 June 2024 to 26 November 2025, although the company placed no orders for long periods for products to be made with those plates and dies, it had the 140 subcontractors store a total of 9,610 plates and dies without bearing the storage costs incurred by them.
The "Reasons" section of the recommendation also states the following.
- Between April 2015 and May 2024 the company entrusted the 140 subcontractors with manufacturing corrugated board products, paper containers and similar products
- At the time, the company was a corporation with stated capital exceeding JPY 300 million, and the 140 subcontractors were individuals or corporations with stated capital of JPY 300 million or less
- By 26 November 2025 the company had agreed with the 140 subcontractors on payment of storage costs arising thereafter
- After consultations, the company had paid a total of JPY 3,410,355 to 127 of the 140 subcontractors by July 2026, as storage costs and other amounts for the period from April 2024 to May 2026; this was found to include partial payment of an amount equivalent to the storage costs
The recommendation states that the company's conduct unjustly harmed the interests of subcontractors by having them provide economic benefits for the company's own sake, fell within Article 4(2)(iii) of the pre-amendment Subcontract Act, and violated that paragraph.
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Try for free →What the recommendation requires
The operative part of the recommendation contains six items.
- Promptly pay the 140 subcontractors an amount equivalent to the costs of storing the plates and dies, less the JPY 3,410,355 already paid to 127 of them by July 2026, after obtaining confirmation from the JFTC
- Confirm the following by resolution of the board of directors:
- - Having subcontractors store plates and dies without bearing the storage costs incurred by them fell within Article 4(2)(iii) of the pre-amendment Subcontract Act and violated that paragraph
- - The company will not in future unjustly harm the interests of small and medium-sized contractors by having them provide economic benefits for its own sake
- Take the measures necessary to improve its internal systems, such as training its purchasing staff on the Toritekihou
- Make its officers and employees fully aware of the recommendation, its contents (excluding the appended table) and the measures taken under items 1 to 3
- Notify its small and medium-sized contractors of the recommendation, its contents (excluding the appended table) and the measures taken under items 1 to 4
- Promptly report to the JFTC the measures taken under items 1 to 5
Statutory wording
According to the statutory extracts in the release, Article 4(2) of the pre-amendment Subcontract Act provides that a parent business operator that has entrusted manufacturing or similar work to a subcontractor must not unjustly harm the subcontractor's interests by any of the acts listed, and item (iii) lists "having the subcontractor provide money, services or other economic benefits for the parent business operator's own sake".
Article 7(3) of the pre-amendment Act provides that, where the JFTC finds that a parent business operator has done any of the acts in Article 4(2), it is to recommend that the operator promptly take the measures necessary to protect the interests of its subcontractors.
Under the current Toritekihou (the Act on the Prevention of Delay in Payment of Manufacturing Entrustment Fees to Small and Medium-sized Contractors), Article 5(2) provides that an entrusting business operator must not unjustly harm the interests of a small and medium-sized contractor by any of the acts listed, and item (ii) lists the same act of having the contractor provide money, services or other economic benefits for the operator's own sake.
Which law applies
According to the notes in the announcement, the Subcontract Act was amended by Act No. 41 of 2025 and became the Toritekihou. The announcement explains that the pre-amendment Subcontract Act applies to manufacturing and similar entrustments made up to December 2025, and the Toritekihou applies to those made from January 2026.
The release gives the following correspondence of terms.
| Pre-amendment Subcontract Act | Toritekihou |
|---|---|
| Subcontract proceeds | Manufacturing entrustment fees |
| Parent business operator | Entrusting business operator |
| Subcontractor | Small and medium-sized contractor |
Leaflet published on the same day
On the same day the JFTC published a leaflet stating that having small and medium-sized contractors store printing plates free of charge is also a violation of the Toritekihou. The leaflet lists metal dies, printing plates, wooden dies, jigs, inspection gauges, tools and machinery as examples of items that had been stored free of charge. It also states that the JFTC and the SME Agency are strengthening monitoring to correct the business practice of having contractors store dies and printing plates free of charge while no orders are placed for long periods.
Sources
- JFTC, "Recommendation to Oji Container Co., Ltd." (22 October 2026, Japanese) https://www.jftc.go.jp/houdou/pressrelease/2026/oct/261022_ojicontainer.html
- JFTC, announcement, recommendation and statutory extracts (PDF, Japanese) https://www.jftc.go.jp/houdou/pressrelease/2026/oct/261022_ojicontainer.pdf
- JFTC, leaflet on free storage of printing plates (PDF, Japanese) https://www.jftc.go.jp/houdou/pressrelease/2026/oct/261022_leaflet_inbannomusyohokan.pdf
- e-Gov Law Search, Act No. 120 of 1956 (Toritekihou, Japanese) https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/331AC0000000120
This page is compiled from material published by government agencies and from statutory text. Please consult a lawyer where a decision is needed on a specific matter.
