Issues | LAW OF THE LAND Jul 15, 2020

Is the Article 9 labyrinth merely academic?

Numerous creative theories have been read into the Constitution's no-war clause by scholars over the years.

Issues | LAW OF THE LAND Jun 18, 2020

Much ado about retirement ages and Japan's politicized bureaucracy

The scandal surrounding top prosecutor Hiromu Kurokawa has kicked off a debate on retirement ages and interference in Japan's civil service.

Issues | LAW OF THE LAND May 18, 2020

Can Japan's laws adapt to pandemic-era privacy needs?

Identity-based discrimination is a part of Japanese law, but could our own experiences with the new coronavirus become part of our identity?

Issues | LAW OF THE LAND Feb 17, 2020

Bureaucrats are to blame for copy-happy hotel clerks

With data privacy being a huge issue, you may feel uneasy about hotels photocopying your passport. However, Colin P.A. Jones says the rule is more about bureaucratic culture than privacy.

Issues | LAW OF THE LAND Jan 8, 2020

Carlos Ghosn and the 99.9% who don't escape Japan

If I had to identify one event in the Carlos Ghosn case indicitave of concern for foreign perceptions of Japan's criminal justice system, it would be the decision to grant him bail.

Issues | LAW OF THE LAND Dec 23, 2019

The Reiwa Daijosai: Pomp, circumstance and litigation

The separation of church and state in Japan comes under scrutiny in the new era. However, we've been down this road before.

Issues | LAW OF THE LAND Sep 29, 2019

The Tepco verdict is predictable but not insignificant

Three Tepco executives are acquitted of criminal negligence in the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant disaster. Did the court recognize the unfairness of holding only three people responsible for a crisis that had much broader causes?

Issues | LAW OF THE LAND Aug 7, 2019

Seven lessons from a Japanese morality textbook

The textbooks students in Japan use to learn wrong from right are filled with stories of invoices, citizen committees, petitions and other cool stuff kids like.

Issues | LAW OF THE LAND Jun 19, 2019

With changes in emperors come amnesties, so who will benefit?

One convenient thing about Japanese law for those of us who are professors of it is that it is quite modern. Virtually all Japanese laws and institutions antedate the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and, of those, most have a 20th-century provenance. Compared to Anglo-American ...

Issues | LAW OF THE LAND May 5, 2019

Iwo Jima: Where Japan rules but the memory of war dead still reigns

It is odd to stand at an iconic place few can ever visit. There on Mount Suribachi where the American flag was raised over Iwo Jima, I am embarrassed to report my first thought on looking out across at the military airport we landed ...