Comparative law research with regards to non-European nations is filled with peril. Notably, it demands allowance for the culture-specific footprint as well as the social-institutional dynamic of the country respectively under consideration. Engagement with Japanese law stands as a prime example. It requires – to a degree even more pronounced than that of earnestly undertaken comparative law efforts – the inclusion of cultural anthropological, sociological, economical and political aspects; in short, comparative law as envisioned by Ernst Rabel in its truest sense. Of particular importance is that the discrepancy gap between the law and the extra-legal mechanisms of regulation is recognized and made clear. Thus, where in fact true differences shape the legal reality one must resist falling sway to the alleged attractiveness and deceptive security of a comparative law inquiry and its assertions of black letter law-based parallels. An example in this regard is the widely held but nonetheless inaccurate belief in a persisting congruity between original European – or American – law and its configuration upon transfer into and its ensuing development as Japanese law. 
 
The roll of Japan as a leading Asian power and, alongside the EU and the USA, as one of the three pillars of the “Triad” implies the significance (also) of its legal system. However, not least due to the barrier represented by the language, knowledge of Japanese law in Europe continues to remain inadequate. Through its numerous activities, the Japan Department at the Institute is committed to lessening this deficit.
 
Primarily, this is achieved by the publication of the Zeitschrift für Japanisches Recht/Journal of Japanese Law. To date, the Journal is the only ongoing Western publication which furnishes information on current developments in all areas of Japanese law in a regular, focussed and timely manner. Expert analyses of these developments are presented by Japanese and foreign scholars in texts authored alternatively in German or English. In addition to the Journal, the following general book publications on Japanese law have been released by the Institute’s Japan Department: Baum (ed.), „Handbuch des japanischen Handels- und Wirtschaftsrechts“ (in preparation for 2010); Kliesow, Eisele & Bälz (eds.), „Das japanische Handelsgesetz“ (2002); Baum & Nottage, „Japanese Business Law in Western Languages: An Annotated Selective Bibliography“ (1998, new edition under prep.); Baum & Drobnig (eds.), „Japanisches Handels- und Wirtschaftsrecht“ (1994). Further, numerous dissertations on individual topics of Japanese law have appeared in the Institute’s publication series, the majority of which were prepared under Institute care and supervision.
 
The Institute has individually or cooperatively organized a series of comparative law symposia in respect of Japanese law. The current list of subsequently published conference volumes includes:

„Japanese and European Private International Law in Comparative Perspective“ (2007); 
„An Economic Analysis of Private International Law“ (2005); 
„Globalisierung und Recht – Beiträge Japans und Deutschlands zu einer internationalen Rechtsordnung im 21. Jahrhundert“ (2005);
„Changes of Governance in Europe, Japan, and the U.S.: Corporations, State, Markets, and Intermediaries“ (2004);
„Reform des Unternehmens- und Finanzmarktrechts in Japan und Deutschland“ (2003); 
„Economic Regulation and Competition. Regulation of Services in the EU, Germany and Japan“ (2001);
„Comparative Corporate Governance: the State of the Art and Emerging Research“ (1997);
„Japan: Economic Success and Legal System“ (1995).

In cooperation with the University of Hamburg, the Institute’s reporter for Japan, Prof. Dr. Harald Baum, regularly offers courses of instruction on Japanese law.

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