German-Japanese Legal Dialog in the Journal of Japanese Law
The 60th issue of the Journal of Japanese Law / Zeitschrift für Japanisches Recht (ZJapanR/J.Japan.L.), a publication of the Institute in cooperation with the German-Japanese Association of Jurists (DJJV), is dedicated to Jan Grotheer on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Grotheer co-founded the DJJV and was its long-time president. He is now the association’s honorary president.
Grotheer spent decades promoting German-Japanese legal dialog and was one of the driving forces behind it. The substantive articles in this latest issue of the J.Japan.L. are preceded by four tributes to Grotheer and his achievements as a builder of bridges, maker of connections, and organiser of numerous symposia, conferences, and meetings. To celebrate his birthday, the Institute and the DJJV jointly held a symposium on the role of the Supreme Court of Japan and the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in safeguarding democracy and the rule of law. The speakers of honour were Supreme Court Justice Michiharu Hayashi of Japan and former Federal Constitutional Court Vice President Doris König of Germany. Justice Hayashi’s address to the symposium is included in this issue of the journal. Jan Grotheer spent his professional career administering justice for the city of Hamburg, eventually retiring as president of the Court of Finance. The DJJV continues to benefit from Grotheer’s practical perspective as a veteran judge, so it is fitting that this issue also contains several articles about Japanese tax law.
This issue also contains articles and conference papers on criminal law, on Japan’s “My Number System” which enables the use of multiple government services, on the regulation of Legal Tech, and on the liability of digital platforms in light of current consumer issues. As in every issue, German and Japanese authors give an overview of important cases decided by Japanese courts. Issue 60 concludes with a report from the conference “1985–2025. 40 Years of Research on Japanese Law at the MPI. Time to Add New Voices”, which the Institute hosted from 13 to 15 November 2025.
Image: © Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law / Bastian Kurzynsky
