Research

The University of Sydney Library now offers the Asian and Pacific Law Guide. The guide provides an overview of resources available for the study of law in an Asia / Pacific context. The Asian and Pacific Law Guide Japan contains resources and guides about Japanese law.

ANJeL has entered into a partnership with the Australasian Legal Information Institute to move to their new “AsianLII” database the resources ANJeL had developed in collaboration with Tokyo law firm Nagashima Ohno and Tsunematsu (previously available via the Japanese Law Online site).

This comprehensive guide to primarily English online resources about Japanese law includes web-links to legislation, case law, international treaties, governmental and non-governmental organisations, law journals, and other useful research information.

The WorldLII Catalog Japan page is available at www.worldlii.org/catalog/232.html and the AsianLII Japanese Law Resources database page is now available online at www.asianlii.org/jp/other/JPLRes. ANJeL members with suggestions for additions to the AsianLII Japanese Law Resources database page are asked to contact ANJeL via ANJeLinfo@gmail.com.

Looking for information in Japanese on Australian law? Find out more… オーストラリア法入門こちら.

In addition to ANJeL’s collaboration with AsianLII ANJeL is involved in developing or promoting several other tools for effective research in Japanese law.

1. The CCH Japan Business Law Guide, which is a looseleaf and online service, is maintained with the assistance of a number of ANJeL co-Directors, members and associates.

2. The entry “Japanese Law: An Overview” in Jan Smits (ed) Encyclopedia of Comparative Law (Edward Elgar, 2006) by Luke Nottage and Professor Masaki Abe.

3. Links to other websites:

   • The Japanese Law Translation System website, a Ministry of Justice service provided through Nagoya University, offers one-stop access to a database of Japanese laws translated in accordance with the Japanese government’s legal Standard Bilingual Dictionary (SBD) complete with the most recent edition of the SBD itself and a keyword-in-context search function.

   • Asian Law Centre Bibliography, Melbourne University’s searchable database of citations to Asian Law related references.

   • Japanese Legal Research, University of Washington’s guide to searching Japanese law materials.

   • Australia-Japan Research Centre (AJRC)

   • East Asia Forum, a Forum encompassing policy matters and placing Japan in a regional and global perspective.

   • Japanese Law and the Asia-Pacific, which collates most of Luke Nottage’s own Japanese Law related blogs.

4. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) and a number of law firms in Japan publish information in English on areas of Japanese law. A list of these sources as of April 2009 prepared by ANJeL research assistants is available.

5. A major legal publisher in Japan, Daiichi Hoki, is a Research Sponsor for ANJeL.

6. The Waseda University Institute of Comparative Law (CLAW) has commenced a monthly electronic newsletter to disseminate up-to-date information about Japanese Law in English, including recent legislation, upcoming seminars and discussion of current trends and topics. To subscribe to the CLAW newsletter, please email CLAW including your name, affiliation and e-mail address.

Zeitschrift für Japanisches Recht / Journal of Japanese Law

www.zjapanr.de

(website available in English and German)

The Journal of Japanese Law is now available free online. In addition to abstracts from the last four issues, full text of articles from previous issues can be found in the archives at www.zjapanr.de/index.php/zjapanr/issue/archive.

Since 2004, ANJeL has collaborated with the German-Japanese Association of Jurists (DJJV) to promote their Journal of Japanese Law (Zeitschrift für Japanisches Recht). The journal is now co-published twice-yearly with the Max Planck Institute for Foreign Private and Private International Law, as the only regularly published journal in Western languages focusing on Japanese law.

A submissions and citation guide is available.

Self-regulation in Private Law in Japan and Germany, Baum, Bälz, Dernauer, 978-3-452-29116-5, Fachliteratur, Luchterhand Zivilrecht | Wolters Kluwer Shop

Number 55 (2023)

• Luke Nottage, Nobumichi Teramura, "Japan's International Investment, Evolving Treaty Practice and Arbitration Related to Corruption and Illegality"

Number 54 (2022)

• Souichirou Kozuka, "Introducing Sustainability into Japanese Corporate Governance".

• Matt Nichol, Elisa Shioji, Trevor Ryan,  "The Regulation of Aged Workers: Lessons from Japan".

• Lars Markert, Anne-Marie Doernenburg, "Luke Nottage: International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration. Australia and Japan in Regional and Global Contexts and Luke Nottage et al. (eds.): New Frontiers in Asia-Pacific International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution" a Review.

• Julian Hinz, "Comparing and Transferring Law and Legal Expertise. The Role of Japan – Symposium in Honor of Harald BAUM'S 70th birthday – Hosted in person and virtually by the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg, 1–3 September 2022" a Report.

Number 53 (2022)

• Table of Contents

• Narufumi Kadomatsu, "Denial of "Interpretative Discretion" in Japanese Law" Is it Really Different from Chevron Deference?

• Kazuaki Nishioka, "How Can International Arbitration in Japan Take Flight?" Legal Policy.

• Andrea Ortolani, "Hiroshi Oda: Japanese Law (fourth edition)" a Review.

• Luca Siliquini-Cinelli, "Ashida / Colombo / Dragoni / Giorgi / Kotani / Lemme / Matsuda / Ortolani / Riminucci / Sakuramoto / Takahashi / Tanimoto: Introduzione al Diritto Giapponese" a Review

Number 52 (2021)

• Table of Contents

• Luke Nottage, "Studies in the Contract Laws of Asia, Volumes I–III" a Review Essay.

• Maiko Ishikawa, "The Test for Standing in Administrative Matters Contemporary Developments in Japan and the Case of ‘Nōkotsu-dō’".

Number 51 (2021)

• Table of Contents

• Melanie Trezise, "Japanese Law in Context’ in the Context of a Global Pandemic" a Report on a Podcast Series.

Number 50 (2020)

• Table of Contents

• Luke Nottage, "Commemorating Harald Baum’s 25-Year General Editorship of the Journal of Japanese Law" on the occasion of the 50th issue.

• Marc Dernauer, "HIROO SONO / LUKE NOTTAGE / ANDREW PARDIECK /KENJI SAIGUSA: Contract Law in Japan" a Review.

Number 49 (2020)

• Table of Contents

• The Australian Network for Japanese Law (Leon Wolff with Giorgio Fabio Colombo, Luke Nottage and Heather Roberts), "Endurance in Japanese Law"

• Giorgio Fabio Colombo et al., "The State of Japanese Legal Studies in Europe"

Number 48 (2019)

• Table of Contents

Number 47 (2019)

• Table of Contents

• James Claxton, Luke Nottage and Nobumichi Teramura, "Developing Japan as a Regional Hub for International Dispute Resolution: Dream Come True or Daydream?"

Number 46 (2018)

• Table of Contents

• Souichirou Kozuka, "Japan’s Response to New Technologies. Draft Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Guidelines for International Discussions"

Special Issue No. 10 (2018) of the Journal of Japanese Law - Prof. Dr. Harald Baum / Prof. Dr. Moritz Bälz / Prof. Dr. Marc Dernauer (Hrsg.), "Self-regulation in Private Law in Japan and Germany"

Number 45 (2018)

• Table of Contents

• Stacey Steele and Kaori Kano, "Developments in Contemporary Japanese Electoral Law"

• Yasuhiro Okuda and Trevor Ryan, "Multiple Nationality and Parliamentary Eligibility in Japanese and Australian Law"

• Keizo Yamamoto et al, "German Translation of the Civil Code as Amended in 2017" (in German)

Number 44 (2017)

• Table of Contents

• Harald Baum and Hideki Kanda, "Financial Markets Regulation in Japan"          

Number 43 (2017)

• Table of Contents

• Souichirou Kozuka, "Strict Liability and State Indemnification under Japanese Law"

• Anna Katharina Klasen and Michael Pfeifer, "Self-regulation in Private Law in Japan and Germany"    

• Gabriele Koziol, "Information Duties under Japanese and German Private Law"

Number 42 (2016)

• Table of Contents

• Luke Nottage, "The Future of Legal Education in Japan"

• Zina Teoh, "Food Safety in the Aftermath of Fukushima: Who Can Consumers Trust?"

• J. Mark Ramseyer, "Second-Best Justice: The Virtues of Japanese Private Law"

• Ruth Effinowicz, "Fukushima Five Years On – Legal Fallout in Japan, Lessons for the EU: Workshop at the University of Cambridge on 4 and 5 March 2016"

Number 41 (2016)

• Table of Contents

• Andrew R. J. Watson, "Changes in Japanese Legal Education"

• Stacey Steele, "Japan’s National Bar Examination: Results from 2015 and Impact of the Preliminary Qualifying Examination"

Number 40 (2015)

• Table of Contents

• Colin P.A. Jones, "The Influence of Amakudari on the Japanese Legal System"

Number 39 (2015)

• Table of Contents

• Justin Dabner, "Linking the Tōkyō Emissions Trading Scheme"

Number 38 (2014)

• Table of Contents

• Justin Dabner, "A Comparison of the Australian and Tōkyō Emissions Trading Schemes"

• Paul Davis, "Renegotiating Long-Term Energy Supply Contracts with Japanese Buyers"

• Luke Nottage, "Investor-State Arbitration: Not in the Australia-Japan Free Trade Agreement, and Not Ever for Australia?"

Number 37 (2014)

• Table of Contents

• Hatsuru Morita, "Reforms of Japanese Corporate Law and Political Environment"

• Souichirou Kozuka, "Reform After a Decade of the Companies Act: Why, How, and to Where?"

• Časlav Pejović, "Changes in Long-term Employment and Their Impact on the Japanese Economic Model: Challenges and Dilemmas"

• Matthew J. Wilson, "HARALD BAUM / LUKE NOTTAGE / JOEL RHEUBEN / MARKUS THIER, Japanese Business Law in Western Languages. An Annotated Selective Bibliography"

Number 36 (2013)

• Table of Contents

• Christopher Heath, "JOHN BUCHANAN / DOMINIC HEESANG CHAI / SIMON DEAKIN, Hedge Fund Activism in Japan: The Limits of Shareholder Primacy"

• Keizo Yamamoto, "Looking Back on the Accomplishments of Professor Zentaro Kitagawa"

Number 35 (2013)

• Table of Contents

• Souichirou Kozuka, "Compliance in Japanischen Unternehmen – Entwicklung in Recht und Praxis"

• Gen Goto, "The Outline for the Companies Act Reform in Japan and Its Implications"

• Bruce E. Aronson, "The Olympus Scandal and Corporate Governance Reform: Can Japan Find a Middle Ground between the Board Monitoring Model and Management Model?"

Number 34 (2012)

• Table of Contents

• Luke Nottage, "Japanese Law after the 3-11 Disasters, and ANJeL’s Anniversary Conference on Asia-Pacific Disaster Management"

• Hiroshi Kabashima, "Current Issues in Legal Policy for Recovery from the Aftermath: One Year After the 3.11 Tôhoku Earthquake and Tsunami"

• Hatsuru Morita, "Rescuing Victims and Rescuing TEPCO: A Legal and Political Analysis of the TEPCO Bailout"

• Stacey Steele / Chun Jin, "Insolvency Law Responses to a National Crisis: Great East Japan Earthquake and Guidelines for Individual Debtor Out-of-Court Workouts"

• Robert B Leflar / Ayako Hirata / Masayuki Murayama / Shozo Ota, "Human Flotsam, Legal Fallout: Japan’s Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown"

• Sôichirô Kozuka, "Insurance Law Issues Due to the Great East Japan Earthquake 2011 (Part Two)"

• Dai Yokomizo, "The New Act on International Jurisdiction in Japan: Significance and Remaining Problems"

Number 33 (2012)

• Table of Contents

• Sôichirô Kozuka, "Insurance Law Issues Due to the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 (Part One)"

• Matt Nichol, "Valuing Professional Japanese Baseball Players and the Role of Statistics, Economics, Culture, and Corporate Governance"

• Mark A. Srour, "Restrained Judicial Constitutionalism in Japan: A Reflection of Judicial Culture Rather than Political Interests"

• Luke Nottage, "MARK D WEST, Lovesick Japan: Sex, Marriage, Romance, Law"

• Stacey Steele, "ANDREW HARDING & PENELOPE (PIP) NICHOLSON (eds.), New Courts in Asia"

• Fabio Colombo, "Kyoto Seminar & Tokyo Seminar: “Japanese Law in the Global Era”"

Number 32 (2011)

• Bruce E. Aronson, "The Brave New World of Lawyers in Japan Revisited: Proceedings of a Panel Discussion on the Japanese Legal Profession after the 2008 Financial Crisis and the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake"

• Melissa Ahlefeldt, "Less than Family: Surrogate Birth and Legal Parent-Child Relationships in Japan"

• Tarô Suizu, "Die Schuldrechtsreform in Japan – betrachtet aus dem Blickwinkel der Kodifikationsidee"

• Yuko Nishitani, "The Hague Convention on International Child Abduction and Japan’s Move Toward Ratification"

Number 31 (2011)

• Table of Contents

• Dimitri Vanoverbeke / Narufumi Kadomatsu, "RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN JAPAN AFTER THE 1990S: A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE"

• Narufumi Kadomatsu, "Accountability of Administration in Japan after the Mid-1990s"

• Yosuke Yotoriyama, "Dynamics of Three Structures of Responsibiliy in Education under the New Basic Law of Education"

• Naoki Odanaka, "From Responsibility to Compassion – Lessons from the Controversy over “Comfort Women” in Japan –"

Number 30 (2010)

• Table of Contents

Number 29 (2010)

• Table of Contents

Number 28 (2009)

• Table of Contents

• Sôichirô Kozuka / Jiyeon Lee, "The New Japanese Insurance Act: Comparisons with Europe and Korea"

• Dan W. Puchniak, "Delusions of Hostility: The Marginal Role of Hostile Takeovers in Japanese Corporate Governance Remains Unchanged"

• Moritz Bälz, "LUKE NOTTAGE / LEON WOLFF / KENT ANDERSON (eds.), Corporate Governance in the 21st Century Japan’s Gradual Transformation"

Number 27 (2009)

• Table of Contents

• Dimitri Vanoverbeke, "INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE"

• Colin P.A. Jones, "Japan’s New Law Schools: The Story So Far"

• Masahiko Asada / Trevor Ryan, "Post-war Reparations between Japan and China and Individual Claims: The Supreme Court Judgments in the Nishimatsu Construction Case and the Second Chinese “Comfort Women” Case"

• Yasuhiro Okuda / Hitoshi Nasu, "Amendment of the Japanese Nationality Act"

• Leon Wolff, "HARALD FUESS, Divorce in Japan: Family, Gender, and the State, 1600 – 2000"

Number 26 (2008)

• Yasuhiro Okuda / Hitoshi Nasu, "Constitutionality of the Japanese Nationality Act: A Commentary on the Supreme Court’s Decision on 4 June 2008"

Number 25 (2008)

• Table of Contents

• Erik Ficks, "Models of General Court-Connected Conciliation and Mediation for Commercial Disputes in Sweden, Australia and Japan"

• Hiroo Sono, "Japan’s Accession to the CISG: The Asia Factor"

• Noboru Kashiwagi, "Accession by Japan to the Vienna Sales Convention (CISG)"

• Sôichirô Kozuka, "A Foreigner’s Observations on Law and Society: Reading Comparison of Legal Cultures in TREVOR RYAN, Dear Judge Ichiro"

• Luke Nottage, "DANIEL H FOOTE (ed.), Law in Japan: A Turning Point"

• Colin P.A. Jones, "Japan’s Crazy Judges: KAORU INOUE, Kurutta Saibankan"

Number 24 (2007)

• Table of Contents

• Harald Baum, "EDITORIAL"

• Anna Dobrovolskaia, "An All-Laymen Jury System Instead of the Lay Assessor (Saiban-in) System for Japan? Anglo-American-Style Jury Trials in Okinawa under the U.S. Occupation"

• Joel Rheuben, "A Presidential Prime Minister: Japan’s Direct Election Debate"

• Carol Lawson, "Found in Translation: The “Transparency of Japanese Law Project” in Context"

• Dan W. Puchniak, "A Skeptic’s Guide to Miwa and Ramseyer’s “The Fable of the Keiretsu”"

• Hiroshi Oda, "The New Financial Instruments Exchange Law"

• Andreas Kaiser, "Real Estate Finance in Japan Is Gaining Momentum"

• Harald Fuess, "Ehebruch als Verbrechen Der europäische Beitrag zur Frauendiskriminierung in Japan"

• Markus Thier, "Eine Rückschau auf die Gesetzesanwendung sowie die täterschaftliche Verantwortlichkeit im Todesurteil gegen den AUM-Begründer Matsumoto Chizuo alias Asahara Shôkô"

• Kunihiro Nakata, "Das japanische Vertragsrecht unter dem Einfluß des europäischen und des deutschen Privatrechts"

• Hans-Peter Musahl, "Besteuerungsauswirkungen der Gesellschaftsrechtsreform in Japan"

• Sandra Hotz, Zürich, "Vom Katalog zur Generalklausel hin zur speziellen gesetzlichen Regelung: Japanische Irrtumsregelungen"

Number 23 (2007)

• Table of Contents

• Emily Flahive, "National Identity Crisis: The Politics of Constructing National Identity and Mandatory Detention of Asylum-Seekers in Australia and Japan"

• Ronald Dore, "Shareholder Capitalism Comes to Japan"

• Noboru Kashiwagi, "Translation of Japanese Statutes into English"

• Kent Anderson / Yasuhiro Okuda, "Translation of Japan’s Private International Law: Act on the General Rules of Application of Laws"

• "Act on the General Rules of Application of Laws [Hô no tekiyô ni kansuru tsûsoku-hô], Law No. 10 of 1898 (as newly titled and amended 21 June 2006)"

• Colin P.A. Jones, "Escaping your Debts in Japan: HIROYUKI YAGI / MASAKAZU KAJI, Karita kane wa kaesuna [Don’t Repay that Money you Borrowed]"

Number 22 (2006)

• Table of Contents

• Harald Baum, "EDITORIAL"

• Henrik Schmiegelow, "Why Legal Transformation Assistance from Germany and Japan to Former East-Bloc Countries?"

• Kayoko Ishida, "Evidence Law in Japan and Australia: Principles, Practice and Reform"

• Luke Nottage, "Re-regulating Japan: Asbestos, Defectively Designed Buildings, and Secondhand Electrical Products"

• Yasuhiro Okuda, "The Legal Status of Foreign Companies in Japan’s New Company Law"

• J.J. Spigelman, "Judicial Exchange Between Australia and Japan"

• Luke Nottage, "WILHELM RÖHL (ed.), History of Law in Japan Since 1868"

Number 21 (2006)

• Table of Contents

• Harald Baum, "EDITORIAL"

• Sôichirô Kozuka, "Recent Developments in Takeover Law: Changes in Business Practices Meet Decade-Old Rule"

• Moritz Bälz, "Liberalized Rules for the Restructuring of Japanese Companies: Mergers, Demergers, and Share Exchanges under the New Company Law"

• Frank G. Bennett, Jr., "Secondhand Japan: Used Goods Regulation 1645 – Present (Part 1)"

• Kent Anderson / Leah Ambler, "The Slow Birth of Japan’s Quasi-Jury System (Saiban-in Seido): Interim Report on the Road to Commencement"

• Stefan Wrbka, "The Research Commission on the Constitution and the Upper House Issue"

• Harald Baum, "Takeover Defenses in Japan: Corporate Value Reports and Guidelines - A. Introduction: Models of Takeover Regulation"

• Curtis J. Milhaupt, "In the Shadow of Delaware? The Rise of Hostile Takeovers in Japan"

• Hiroshi Oda, "Comprehensive Overhaul of the Securities and Exchange Law: The Draft Law on the Trading of Financial Products of 2006"

• Eiji Takahashi / Tatsuya Sakamoto, "Japanese Corporate Law: Two Important Cases Concerning Takeovers in 2005"

Number 20 (2005)

• Table of Contents

• Stacey Steele, "BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME: THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF LAW SCHOOLS IN JAPAN, AN INTRODUCTION"

• Masahiko Omura / Satoru Osanai / Malcolm Smith, "Japan’s New Legal Education System: Towards International Legal Education?"

• Kay-Wah Chan, "Foreign Law Firms: Implications for Professional Legal Education in Japan"

• Peter Lawley, "The Post-‘Law School’ Future of Japanese Undergraduate Legal Education A Personal Perspective Comparison with Australia"

• Mayumi Saegusa / Julian Dierkes, "Integrating Alternative Dispute Resolution into Japanese Legal Education"

• Kazuhiro Nishida, "Challenging New Law School Education at Okayama University Graduate Law School — We Will Survive —"

Number 19 (2005)

• Table of Contents

• Harald Baum, "EDITORIAL"

• John O. Haley, "Heisei Renewal or Heisei Transformation: Are Legal Reforms Really Changing Japan ?"

• Eiji Takahashi / Madoka Shimizu, "The Future of Japanese Corporate Governance: The 2005 Reform"

• Daniel H. Foote, "Information Technology Meets International Contracting: Tales from a Transpacific Seminar"

• Kent Anderson / Yoshinobu Eizumi, "Cross-Border Legal Education: Results from a Pilot Japanese-Australian Video Negotiation Project at Australian National University and Aoyama Gakuin University"

• Trevor Ryan, "Creating ‘Problem Kids’: Juvenile Crime in Japan and Revisions to the Juvenile Act"

• Malcolm Smith, "A Small Experiment in International Negotiations: Chuo Law School, Japan and Chulalongkorn Law Faculty, Thailand"

• Hiroshi Oda, "The Principle of Compatibility in Soliciting Stock Investment Judgment of the Supreme Court, 14 July 2005"

Number 18 (2004)

• Table of Contents

• Harald Baum, "EDITORIAL"

• Gerald McAlinn & Luke Nottage, "Changing the (JCAA) Rules: Improving International Commercial Arbitration in Japan"

• Hitoshi Nasu, "Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution Revisited in the Light of International Law"

• Stacey Steele, "Comments on OKUDA, Statelessness and the Nationality Act of Japan: Baby Andrew Becomes a Teenager and other Changes?"

• Luke Nottage, "Civil Procedure Reforms in Japan: The Latest Round"

• Luke Nottage, "DIMITRI VANOVERBEKE, Community and State in the Japanese Farm Village: Farm Tenancy Conciliation (1924-1938)"

Number 17 (2004)

• Table of Contents

• Harald Baum, "EDITORIAL"

• Leon Wolff, "New Whistleblower Protection Laws for Japan"

• Harald Baum, "ICHIRÔ KAWAMOTO / MASAO KISHIDA / AKIRA MORITA / YASUHIRO KAWAGUCHI, Gesellschaftsrecht in Japan, übersetzt von Hans Peter Marutschke"

• Harald Baum, "LUKE NOTTAGE, Product Safety and Liability Law in Japan: From Minamata to Mad Cows"

• Harald Baum, "NISHIMURA & PARTNERS (eds.), Commercial Code of Japan"

Number 16 (2003)

• Table of Contents

Number 15 (2003)

• Table of Contents

• Yasuhiro Okuda, "The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Japan’s International Family Law including Nationality Law"

2020

• Stacey Steele, "Sending Them over the Seas: Japanese Judges Crossing Legal Boundaries through Lived Experiences in Australia", in Akihiro Ogawa and Philip Seaton (eds), New Frontiers in Japanese Studies (Routledge, 2020).

2019

• Luke Nottage, Contract Law in Japan (Wolters Kluwer, 2019)

• Luke Nottage, "The Development of Comparative Law in Japan", in Mathias Reimann and  Reinhard (eds), "The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law", Second Edition (Oxford University Press, 2019) 201-227, Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 18/69, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3276469.

2018

• Marc Dernauer, "The 2017 Reform of the Law of Obligations in Japan: Impetus, Rulemaking Process, and Outcome".