Many state and local courts don't provide interpreters

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lin·gua fran·ca
ˌliNGɡwə ˈfraNGkə/
noun
a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different.

aka the language of commerce.

Most of the outside world knows which language.

I have considered expatriating, and it never occurred to me, not to assimilate. I knew I would be at a disadvantage, if I was unable to communicate.

My grandmother learned to do so, within a year, with hearing aids in both ears.

Pay for one. If I have no money, then I can figure out the charge easily enough and deny such.

They still have to prove that I did the crime. Even if I accidentally admitted to it due to misunderstanding the language, they still need to show I did it (I'm assuming Japan has case/common law or some equivalent system where you're innocent till guilty).

Of course, this is my opinion. If people think there's no need to speak the language of the land, and they deserve interpreters when in matters involving the state, then that's theirs. I'm sure the taxation increase for said interpreters is negligible.

No, Dillogic, you would need to be able to present an adequate defense, which you absolutely will need an attorney for. Even attorneys themselves, in their own cases, need another attorney representing them, because after all, according to the old adage, "A man who represents himself has a fool for a client." (Ou's just like how a doctor who gets sick should still go to another doctor.)

If you don't present an adequate defense, then there's a good chance you could end up like one of the people here, innocent people railroaded into prison, with years of their lives wasted for crimes they didn't commit:

http://www.innocenceproject.org/

Just because you speak a language fluently doesn't mean it comes natural nor does it mean you still won't have troubles with understanding what is being said to you. You have to listen to the second language and interpret it in your brain to your language to understand it. A second language person might not fully understand the language in court because everyone is speaking too fast for them to interpret.

If you need to “interpret” a second language in your head resorting to your first language, you’re not “fluent” in it at all. You have to learn to think in it directly, much like you learned to think in your first language as a little child. It’ll still take a lot of practice and exposure to understand fast or poorly articulated speech, however. Studying phonetics conscientiously can help a bit, but you still need a lot of practice and exposure.