Japanese Legal Studies Program

Since the first two Japanese students graduated in the class of 1878, the University of Michigan Law School has enjoyed strong ties with Japan. More than half of our faculty has taught in Japan, many as part of our faculty exchange with the University of Tokyo. Our library has acquired an outstanding collection of books, serials, and computer databases on Japanese law, while our student body includes Japanese graduate students from government, academia, private law firms, and companies, as well as many U.S. law students who are fluent in Japanese or have spent substantial time in Japan. Our Japanese alumni continue to play an important role in the intellectual and institutional life of the Law School.

Courses:

Japanese Law
This course, taught by Professor Mark West, is the basic course in Japanese law. Subjects covered include the roles of Chinese, German, and American law in the development of modern Japanese law, the formal structure of the legal system (including the roles of the judiciary and the bureaucracy), the legal profession, formal and informal dispute settlement mechanisms, and attitudes toward law and its operation. Selected areas of substantive law that are examined include contracts, torts, constitutional law, corporate law, economic regulation, family law, labor law, and criminal law. For two to three weeks, the course is co-taught with visiting faculty from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law.

Additional courses
The following Japanese law-related courses have been offered in recent years or are scheduled to be offered in the near future:

• Comparative Family Law
• Comparative Corporate Law
• Individual Rights in Japan
• Independent Research. Second- and third-year and graduate students may enroll for independent research under the supervision of a member of the Law School faculty.

Seminars offered in Japanese law vary from year to year and include:

Institutions and Actors in the Japanese Legal System. This seminar examines the role of legal rules, actors and institutions in the Japanese political, economic, and sociohistorical context.

Japanese Legal Documents. In this unique seminar, students with Japanese-language ability examine Japanese law using original materials.

All Japanese law-related courses are open to cross-registration to graduate students from other schools in the University with permission of instructor.

Semester Study Abroad:
Students may spend one semester studying at Waseda University Law School for transfer credit toward their J.D. degree. Semester study at Waseda may complement the extensive curricular offerings in Japanese studies at the Law School and the University.

Interdisciplinary Opportunities:
Students may pursue concurrent work in the graduate program in Japanese Studies and the Law School, leading to both the M.A. and the J.D. degrees. This joint program recognizes the growing need for specialists who combine training in law with substantive knowledge of Japan.

The University's Center for Japanese Studies, established in 1947, coordinates nearly 100 courses in various disciplines relating to Japan, including business, economics, language, anthropology, political science, and sociology. Second- and third-year students may, with the approval of the Associate Dean through the Registrar, elect up to nine hours of credit in courses that are acceptable for graduate credit in other departments within the University. Approval is normally granted upon a determination that the course is relevant to or will contribute to the education of a lawyer. Professor West currently serves as director of the Center.

Other Japan Connections:
Since 1992, the Law School has formally maintained a faculty exchange relationship with the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law, and its International Center for Comparative Law and Politics. This program is a unique opportunity for students to meet experts on many fields of Japanese law, as well as to discuss comparative issues with regular Law School faculty who have taught in Japan (nearly half of the faculty have done so, and many have published scholarship in Japanese). In addition, the Law School regularly hosts visitors from several other prominent Japanese institutions, including Professors Shinichiro Hayakawa (Tohoku University), Atsushi Kinami (Kyoto University), and Takashi Maruta (Kwansei Gakuin University), Supreme Court Justices Itsuo Sonobe and Gen Kajitani, and many prominent practitioners. These institutional ties create a wide range of connections for students interested in study or employment in Japan.

Each year, the Law School invites several outstanding Japanese students to pursue an LL.M. degree. These students, each of whom excelled in legal education in Japan, include lawyers, judges, prosecutors, government officials, and members of legal departments of prominent Japanese corporations. For students interested in the study of Japan and Japanese law, these students provide an invaluable resource.

The Law Library has an extensive collection of materials relating to Japanese law, including treatises, serials, and the Hanrei Taikei CD-Rom Database of Japanese court opinions. The University's Asia Library contains one of the largest collections of Japanese-language materials in the country, including a wealth of materials for research on Japanese law and related topics. The breadth of the collection and the helpfulness of the library staff are two reasons why students often find researching Japanese law to be easier in Ann Arbor than in Japan.