1985–2025: 40 Years of Research on Japanese Law at the MPI. Time to Add New Voices

In 1985, at the height of Japan’s economic rise, the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg hired its first expert on Japanese law. Over the years, this expert, Prof. Harald Baum, established the MPI as one, if not the “Centre of Expertise on Japanese Law” in Europe – living up to the Japan Unit’s official name.

Yet, as successful as it has been, the conversation in Hamburg – and more broadly the conversation in German and English – is mostly a dialogue between Japan and the so-called West. Other voices, especially from the neighboring countries across Asia, are still largely absent. This is all the more regrettable as Japan’s legal thought and legal system have long been very influential themselves. Missing voices thus also mean the absence of an important angle when looking at Japanese law.

Now, at the 40th anniversary of Japan-related research in Hamburg, it is time to invite hitherto less heard voices to Hamburg in order to turn the dialogue into a multilogue. Speakers from Japan’s neighboring countries will shed light on the role and relevance of Japanese law for legal systems in South Korea, China, Taiwan and beyond. The focus will be the Japanese influence as well as the role of Japanese law legal experts in the respective country’s academia, legal education and practice. What legal fields are of importance, what themes are studied, who are the experts and what is their standing? The scope will extend from historical interconnectedness to ODA and legal education/research/exchanges in Japan.

In this endeavor, the Centre of Expertise on Japanese Law is partnering with its long-term partners, the Australian Network for Japanese Law (ANJeL) and the German-Japanese Association of Jurists (DJJV). Adding voices to the Australian conversation has been a continuing focus of ANJeL – with the network expanding its contacts well beyond the border of the continent. The anniversary symposium at the MPI in Hamburg will thereby mark the first ANJeL-in-Asia symposium.

The event will be held as a hybrid event, both on site at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Mittelweg 187, 20148 Hamburg, and as a video conference via Zoom.

Please register no later than Thursday, 6 November 2025 using this LINK.
Online participants will receive the Zoom login data on Wednesday afternoon (12 November 2025). If you do not receive an email containing the login data, please check your spam folder as well.

If you choose to participate via Zoom, please confirm upon registration that you agree to the use of Zoom and that you will not record the event. By attending the event you confirm that you have read and agreed to Zoom’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.