Academic Exchange and Cooperation

Academic Exchange and Cooperation

Particular attention is devoted to academic exchanges. The Institute benefits from an almost continual presence of guest researchers working in the field of Japanese law. Normally engaged in research stays of considerable length, they receive intensive support and assistance from the Institute’s Centre of Expertise for Japan. In turn, an increasing number of Institute scholars travel to Japan each year to attend lectures and conferences and complete similar research stays. Furthermore, there are several research cooperation partnerships.


Cooperation with Kyōto University

In 2008 the Institute and the Legal Faculty of the renowned Kyōto University sealed a cooperation contract on academic exchange between the two institutes. This provided official recognition for the close academic collaboration which had already been taking place for decades. The cooperation partnership aims to ensure regular exchanges, particularly for successive generations of researchers, and to further intensify project-based collaboration in the future. Guest scholars will be afforded full freedom of research during their stay, while also being invited to partake of the academic life of the partner institution.


Joint Research Project of the Institute and Kyōto University as part of the 2016-2017 Joint Research Programme:

Private Autonomy and Self-Responsibility as Legal Principles in German-Japanese Comparison

Within the scope of cooperation with Kyōto University, a joint research project was carried out in 2016-2017, which was supported by DAAD on the German side and by JSPS on the Japanese side.

The concluding workshop took place in Kyōto in January 2018. Contributions to it were published in 2019 in a special issue of the Journal of Japanese Law, which will be edited by the coordinators and project leaders, Prof. Dr. Harald Baum, Prof. Keizo Yamamoto and Prof. Dr. Yuko Nishitani.

Private Autonomy and Personal Responsibility – A German-Japanese Comparative Study
The special issue of the Journal of Japanese Law comparatively examines the tension arising between modern legislation and the dual pillars of contractual freedom and personal responsibility. more
Keizo Yamamoto, Yuko Nishitani, Harald Baum (eds.), Gegenwärtiger Stand und Aufgabe der Privatautonomie in Japan und Deutschland (Zeitschrift für Japanisches Recht, Sonderheft 14), Carl Heymanns Verlag, Köln 2019, VI + 168 pp.


Collaboration with Other Partners

The Institute works intensively with the German-Japanese Association of Jurists (DJJV). Founded in 1988 in Hamburg, the association aims to foster collaborative projects between German and Japanese jurists, and to provide a deeper understanding of the two systems for both sides.

Homepage DJJV

There is also a close working relationship with the Interdisciplinary Centre for East Asian Studies (IZO) in Frankfurt, which seeks to increase the level of academic engagement with today’s East Asia.

Homepage IZO

A transcontinental collaboration has been established with the Australian Network of Japanese Law (ANJeL), formed by a group of Australian legal academics and practitioners who share an interest in the field of Japanese law and expertise in it.

Homepage ANJeL

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