ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces Miyabe Miyuki's All She Was Worth. The book is unusually accurate from a legal point of view that Miyabe Miyuki has put an enormous amount of work into acquiring knowledge of the Japanese laws on personal bankruptcy and moneylending. The chapter shows how the novel is a remarkable illustration of the workings of the Japanese personal bankruptcy legislation. Understandably the issue of bankruptcy became particularly serious after the bubble collapsed: the grinding halt of the Japanese economy had catastrophic effects on a market in which both consumers and companies alike kept on borrowing with the expectation of continued growth in the years to come. The chapter also shows how the novel animates and reflects the koseki family registration system. In All She Was Worth Shinjo Kyoko is able to acquire the identity of Sekine Shoko. The family registration system known as koseki is a unique feature of Japanese law.
