Learn in the textbookLaws on Fair Trade, Finance, and Product Liability
DefinitionThe Antimonopoly Act (独占禁止法) is the law that bans conduct obstructing fair and free competition among businesses, protecting competition in the market.
ExplanationThe main banned conduct includes private monopolization, which restricts competition by excluding or controlling other businesses' activities; unreasonable restraint of trade, which covers price agreements (cartels) and bid rigging, where the winner is chosen before bidding; and unfair trade practices such as abuse of a superior bargaining position, where a stronger party forces disadvantages on its trading partner. The law is enforced by the Japan Fair Trade Commission, which exercises its authority independently of other government bodies and can issue cease-and-desist orders or surcharge payment orders to violators.
AnalogyIt is like a referee who stops players from fixing the match or taking over the whole venue, so that the contest itself can happen.
Memory hookIts short name in Japanese is Dokkinhō. The full title, the Act on Prohibition of Private Monopolization and Maintenance of Fair Trade, names what it bans in the first half and what it protects in the second.