Too Many Lawyers?

Move to Japan:

There was no inherent reason that this northern Japanese town, population 19,743, had never had a lawyer until now. It had its share of people with debts, disputes over property, wrangling over inheritances — enough disharmony, certainly, to keep at least one lawyer busy.

But Japan, in contrast to the United States, has long suffered from a shortage of lawyers, especially in the countryside. If it was not unusual for towns with five times Yakumo’s population to have no lawyer, how could Yakumo hope to secure one just for itself?

There's even a national program to boost law school attendance!

Of course, as the article points out, cultural differences explain the low number of lawyers in Japan:

Like many Japanese who consult lawyers, the four seemed embarrassed about doing so.

'Japanese by nature don’t want to publicize their problems,' Mr. Hirai explained. 'And coming to see a lawyer is to admit that there are problems inside your home or workplace.'

It was precisely to dispel the shame of consulting a lawyer that Mr. Hirai chose to open his office in the town’s most prominent square.

By contrast, in my experience, Americans are more than happy to tell you all about their problems, even if there's not a damn thing you can do about them.