Marriage and divorce in Japan

I am an American citizen who married a Japanese citizen in Japan a few years ago. I am currently back in the states and looking to divorce my Japanese spouse who is still in Japan. But upon looking further into marriage laws in Japan I came across the g Article 731 to 737 of the Japanese Civil Codeh Which states that I need to present a notarized sworn Affidavit of Competency to Marry from the US government. I do not believe that I ever submitted this form upon getting married.

My question is, does this void the marriage or is this grounds for annulment? And how can I find out if this information was submitted or not?

Articles 731- 737 of the Japanese Civil Code stipulates non-eligibility to marry, such as bigamy, between close relatives, a minor (in age), between adopted children, a woman who has divorced recently, etc. None of these applies to you, right?
(I suppose you are looking at the page about gMarriage in Japanh on the website of US Embassy & Consulates in Japan. Those just lay out the prerequisites. The procedure is described in the section below that.)

If the marriage report was accepted, for whatever reason, at the city hall in Japan, I believe it would be considered valid. Youfd need to check with the city hall in Japan where youfve reported the marriage to, to know for sure if it has been accepted.

I have assisted two couples to get married in Japan, including one where the requirements included the "Affidavit of Competency to Marry from the US government". All of the documentation and material was checked at the time the marriages were registered at city hall. If there was a problem, like a missing affidavit, then it would have been raised at the time. The fact your application was accepted means you are legally married.

I never filled that form out though. And I for sure never got it translated. Is it possible it couldfve been overlooked?

you need to divorce in Japan, because you got married in Japan.
did you go to city hall to register the marriage ?
did you sign the form ?
if so, that shows the fact that you had a will to get married.

SE, it doesn't matter now if some documents were missing. At this point you are legally married in Japan, if the city office issue you the certificate. The issue for you now is getting divorced.

The foreign person does not have to be present at the Japanese city office to file for the divorce. Japan allows for "mutual consent divorce". I think the foreign spouse who is not living in Japan, does have to file the paperwork. So the wife or a lawyer would likely have to go to the city office and get the correct documents and send it to you. You would do them all, and send it back.

You might be able to hire a Japanese lawyer in Japan to do the divorce paperwork for you, but that can add various complications. Where if you do the paperwork yourself (when sent to you), it can be cheaper and more clear as to what you are signing or agreeing to.

Hopefully your wife isn't too irrational or too vindictive, to not be helpful in filing the paperwork in a hopeless marriage that the other partner doesn't want to be in. This could be the easiest way. However, if she is trying to get something from you (like a dispute over property, bank accounts, child visitation rights, etc...), then you have to take the case to court. That's a complicated situation where you will likely need a lawyer.

The documents may not have been required in the first place. When thinking about marriage some years ago I found multiple city halls that were willing to marry couples without such a document (in my case the Brtitish version, but it's the same thing). You can ask a lawyer if you're still not convinced, but basically I think you are going to have to get divorced through the proper channels rather than trying to find some loophole that probably isn't there.