News from the Centre of Expertise on Japan

The Zeitschrift für Japanisches Recht/Journal of Japanese Law (ZJapanR/J.Japan.L.) is the only publication in the world outside Japan that regularly provides coverage and analysis of current developments in all areas of Japanese law in Western European languages. Issue 57 (2024) contains major articles on topics in private law, business law, and comparative law, complemented by overviews of recent court decisions. more

In recognition of her outstanding scholarship, the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg has selected Ruth Effinowicz, senior research fellow at the Institute and head of the Centre of Expertise on Japan, to be a Young Academy Fellow. more

Since 2008 the Institute has taken part in a cooperative exchange with the Faculty of Law at Kyoto University, as administered by the Institute’s Centre of Expertise on Japan. A researcher who for many years has contributed greatly to this exchange through his special commitment is once again a guest in Hamburg. Keizo Yamamoto, Professor at Kyoto University, is one of Japan's most renowned civil law experts. more

A new special issue of the Zeitschrift für Japanisches Recht/Journal of Japanese Law (ZJapanR/J.Japan.L.) presents a treatise on the Japanese system of capital punishment by Makoto Ida, one of Japan’s leading authorities on criminal law, in which he examines the meaning of retribution, the predominant theory of criminal justice in Japan. The ZJapanR/J.Japan.L. is a joint publication of the Institute and the German-Japanese Association of Jurists (DJJV). more

In her dissertation, Ruth Effinowicz, head of the Institute’s Centre of Expertise on Japan, analyses the legal framework developed in post-1945 Japan to govern the activities of Japan’s armed forces, known as the Japan Self-Defence Forces. Her study focused in particular on the very strict rules for foreign deployments. more

Issue 55 (2023) of the Journal of Japanese Law (ZJapanR) once again covers a wide range of issues in contemporary Japanese law. Topics covered include civil liability for US military bases, private insurance in the Japanese healthcare system, the Japanese Personal Data Protection Act, the right to repair, reform of the statutory scheme on sexual offences, and climate change lawsuits. more

Issue 54 (2022) of the Journal of Japanese Law (ZJapanR) opens with three articles on the topic of LGBT+ rights in Japan, an area that is also the subject of a conference report. Other contributions examine Japan’s “unequal treaties” and current questions regarding corporate governance. The issue also features extensive coverage of the 2022 symposium that was held in honour of the Journal’s founder, Harald Baum. more

In her dissertation, Anna Katharina Suzuki-Klasen, former research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, examines the rules of contract formation under English, German, and Japanese law. more

Reactions to Covid-19 in Japanese law and a comparative assessment vis-a-vis Germany serve as the starting point in Issue 51 of the Journal of Japanese Law. The latest edition of the periodical – co-published by the Institute – also explores the treatment of parodies in copyright law, legal liability for nuclear damages and administrative standing with a view to cremation practices. more

Since 1996 the ZJapanR/J.Japan.L. has been a central Western-language forum for academic exchange on Japanese law. With the release of Issue No. 50, Harald Baum, former head of the Centre of Expertise on Japan at the MPI for Private Law and founder of the Journal of Japanese Law, hands over editorial direction to his successor at the Institute, Ruth Effinowicz. more

In August 2020 the Centre of Expertise on Japan at the Max Planck Institute for Private Law, working in partnership with the DJJV, staged the academic event “Reactions to Corona in Japanese and German Law. A Virtual Conference in the Pandemic Era”. On 17 December 2020, a conference volume was published digitally. more

Prof. Yuko Nishitani is this year's winner of the Philipp Franz von Siebold Prize for Japanese scholars. The jurist will spend the research time associated with the award at the Max Planck Institute for Private Law, continuing her close and long-standing association with the Hamburg Institute. more