Critics have charged for years that government policies deliberately aimed at discouraging the public from resorting to the courts to resolve disputes have also worked to artificially limit the number of lawyers and judges in this country. Now, in a welcome if belated step aimed at increasing the number of people in the legal profession, the Justice Ministry is reportedly considering a plan to introduce graduate schools of law in Japan's leading universities. The move is part of an overall project designed to reform the nation's legal system.

Before the ministry is congratulated on its timely action, however, it must be recognized that both the political and business worlds have long been calling for a review of the way in which universities here conduct instruction in the law. Private citizens and groups advocating their rights have also increasingly challenged a system that makes litigation so expensive and time-consuming. Part of the problem stems from the practice at tradition-heavy universities of emphasizing the law strictly as an academic subject, even at the graduate-school level, instead of increasing the number of practicing lawyers.

It is doubtless only a coincidence, but news of the Justice Ministry plan circulated within hours of a different report noting that nearly 80 percent of the deans at national universities responded in a recent survey that the academic levels of Japanese university students have fallen. A commonly cited example was the general inability of students to engage in logical thinking and to express their thoughts with clarity. The experts from whom ministry officials are seeking advice and guidance need to bear these criticisms in mind as they debate the plan to introduce graduate law schools similar to the special three-year courses offered by U.S. law schools.

Any proposed program that would clearly involve a large-scale upheaval in both the judicial and education systems can be expected to face stiff opposition from entrenched interests in both fields. Over the last two months, Justice officials have already conducted a series of discussions on the issue at universities in both the Kanto and Kansai regions. What is needed now is greater assurance that the academic specialists recognize the need for strengthening the relationship between university law instruction and state law examinations.

Coming as it does so close to the public acknowledgment by Supreme Court Justice Shigeru Yamaguchi of a need to review the entire judicial system, the news of the Justice Ministry's plan suggests that at least the preliminary groundwork has already been laid. The ministry is said to be establishing a special legal-system reform council within the Cabinet by this summer, charged with examining the graduate law school concept and coming up with specific proposals before the close of fiscal year 2001. That date is much closer than it seems. If the proposed reforms are to be effective, it is essential that the council's deliberations be transparent and amply reported.

It has been noted that the Japanese public's long-standing aversion to litigation is undergoing profound if subtle changes. There is a deeply ingrained preference in this country for mediation, often involving a disinterested third party, instead of resorting to the courts to settle minor disputes. Maintaining social harmony has been primary. In the past, there was a tendency to discourage legal action even in the case of disputes that could hardly be considered minor, however, such as those involving pollution-related illnesses, the marketing of faulty or even dangerous products and repeated instances of willful sexual harassment and discrimination.

New laws have been enacted in recent years concerning such actions. Those statutes, together with the trend new to this country for groups of concerned citizens to institute class action suits, are contributing to a greater willingness to turn to the courts, despite the years often required for a judgment to be reached. It is unlikely that the Japanese public will embrace the concept of rushing to sue over even frivolous matters, as is sometimes the case in the United States, where lawyers are far more numerous.

Citizens have a right, however, to seek legal damages for perceived wrongs, even if some may abuse the system for selfish reasons. Despite the protections offered by the Constitution, the concept of individual rights has been slow to develop in Japan, largely for cultural reasons. The Justice Ministry's proposals for graduate law schools to produce more qualified practicing lawyers thus deserve serious discussion and consideration. A public often at the mercy of giant corporate and bureaucratic institutions needs professional help in protecting its interests.