(1) Investigation by a family court and classification by a juvenile classification home
  After receiving a case, the family court must investigate the case. It may order a family court probation officer to interview the juvenile, guardians and witnesses, and to conduct other necessary investigations. When necessary for conducting a hearing, the family court, making a disposition of protective detention, may require classification on predisposition by transferring the juvenile in question to a juvenile classification home.
  The juvenile classification home detains the transferred juvenile and conducts classification on the predisposition of the juvenile based on expertise in medicine, psychology, pedagogy, and sociology, etc. The term to detain juveniles in a juvenile classification home under protective detention is two weeks, in principle, but can be extended only once when necessary. Regarding cases that meet certain requirements, the term can be extended up to two more times.
  If the family court determines, in light of the results of the investigation, that measures under the Child Welfare Act are appropriate, it has to refer the case to the prefectural governor or the director of a child guidance center. The family court terminates a case by making a decision of dismissal without a hearing if it determines that it is impossible or inappropriate to subject the juvenile to a hearing. If the court determines that a hearing should be conducted on the juvenile, it makes a decision to commence such hearing.

(2) Hearing by a family court
  In general, a hearing at a family court is performed by a single judge. However, if it is decided by a collegiate court body to perform a hearing by a collegiate court body, the collegiate court body of judges handles the hearing. A hearing at a family court is conducted closed to the public.
  The family court may decide to have a public prosecutor attend the hearing if it recognizes that it is necessary for a public prosecutor to become involved in the procedure of the hearing to verify the facts of the delinquency related to any offense committed by a juvenile offender aged 14-19 in which a victim was killed through the offender's intentional criminal act or any other offense committed by a juvenile offender that is punishable by the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment with or without work for a minimum period of 2 years or more. In such cases, if the juvenile does not have a lawyer as an attendant, the family court must assign a court-appointed attendant to the juvenile.
  The family court may place the juvenile under tentative supervision, which is to prompt a family court probation officer to directly supervise the juvenile for a certain period of time, if it deems such supervision necessary to determine appropriate protective measures.
  If the hearing leads the court to determine that it is impossible or unnecessary to place the juvenile under protective measures, it has to make a decision of dismissal after the hearing. If the family court determines that measures under the Child Welfare Act are appropriate, it shall refer the case to the prefectural governor or the director of a child guidance center. In the event that the case involves an offense punishable by the death penalty or an offense punishable by imprisonment with or without work, the family court refers the case to a public prosecutor if it determines that a criminal disposition is appropriate. Also, regarding cases in which victims died due to intentional criminal acts committed by a juvenile at the age of 16 or over, the family court must refer such a case to a public prosecutor, except for cases where measures other than criminal dispositions are considered as more appropriate in light of the motives and type of offense, situations after the offense, the personality, age, behavior and environment of the juvenile and other conditions. In cases other than these, the family court must decide the protective measures such as a disposition of probation, commitment to a support facility for development of self-sustaining capacity, or a children's home (limited for those under 18), or commitment to a juvenile training school (limited for those aged 14 or over, in cases that took place before enforcement of the amended Juvenile Act as mentioned above).
  The juvenile, or his/her legal representative or attendant, may make an appeal against the disposition of a protective measure within two weeks to a high court, only on the grounds of a violation of any act or regulation that affects the disposition, a grave error in fact-finding that influences the disposition, or serious unfairness of the disposition (However, an attendant must not make an appeal against the clearly expressed will of the guardians who appointed the attendant). In cases where the involvement of a public prosecutor is decided, the prosecutor may request that a high court accept the case as an appeal case against the disposition to take or not to take protective measures within two weeks, only on the grounds of a violation of any act or regulation that affects the disposition or a grave error in fact-finding, in regard to the recognition of the fact of delinquency.