Law in Japan

This volume explores major developments in Japanese law over the latter half of the twentieth century and looks ahead to the future. Modeled on the classic work Law in Japan: The Legal Order in a Changing Society (1963), edited by Arthur Taylor von Mehren, it features the work of thirty-five leading legal experts on most of the major fields of Japanese law, with special attention to the increasingly important areas of environmental law, health law, intellectual property, and insolvency. The contributors adopt a variety of theoretical approaches, including legal, economic, historical, and socio-legal.

As Law and Japan: A Turning Point is the only volume to take inventory of the key areas of Japanese law and their development since the 1960s, it will be an important reference tool and starting point for research on the Japanese legal system. Topics addressed include the legal system (with chapters on legal history, the legal profession, the judiciary, the legislative and political process, and legal education); the individual and the state (with chapters on constitutional law, administrative law, criminal justice, environmental law, and health law); and the economy (with chapters on corporate law, contracts, labor and employment law, antimonopoly law, intellectual property, taxation, and insolvency).

Japanese law is in the midst of a watershed period. This book captures the major trends by presenting views on important changes in the field and identifying catalysts for change in the twenty-first century.

Daniel H. Foote is professor of law at the University of Tokyo.

"Simply a 'must-have' for every library with a serious collection of Western literature on Japanese law."

"Daniel Foote has performed a major service. . . . Foote's present work succeed[s] in identifying key issues in most major areas of contemporary Japanese law, and it succinctly offers enough detail for novice and experienced readers alike to begin to assess the author's views on continuity versus change."

"This book is destined to become. . . the leading book on Japanese law for some time to come."

"This book represents the most complete examination of modern Japanese law currently in print. Its wide-ranging subject matter makes it an essential book for scholars of Japanese or comparative law . . . . this book deserves a place on the bookshelves of those interested in broadening their understanding of the role of the law in the process of globalization."

"Thanks to this book, and other recent publications, researchers interested in Japanese law are given the opportunity to learn about it, despite the fact that they are not fluent in Japanese language. This is a wide-scoped, merit-worthy work… They pursue answers in papers and reports written by Japanese scholars in the past, and grant due attention and respect to the reasoning and thoughts consolidated through the generations in order to carry on the strict and trustworthy legal and doctrinal training…. The book has thoroughly accomplished its purpose."

"Law in Japan distils and juxtaposes the work of some of the leading thinkers in Japanese law. The themes that emerge from this work are universal, making it—- like its 1963 predecessor—- an invaluable comparative resource."