The Center for Japanese Legal Studies (CJLS) at Columbia Law School is the first and only center of its kind in the United States. The Center for Japanese Legal Studies advances the study of Japanese law at Columbia Law School and fosters intellectual exchange between the Columbia community and the legal profession of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The Center strives to be the principal source of intellectual exchange between the legal professions of the United States and Japan. Columbia Law School consistently ranks among the top schools nationally in the field of

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. The CJLS holds that its main challenge today is keeping abreast of dynamic changes in the Japanese legal system over the past decade. Reforms have been motivated by a variety of factors, ranging from domestic economic and demographic pressures to international relations considerations and the forces of globalization. Understanding and responding to these significant institutional changes requires in depth research and the timely dissemination of ideas.

History

Columbia Law School’s focus on Japanese law dates to the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Columbia spearheaded bilateral collaboration among lawyers, judges, and legal scholars. As early as the 1950s, the University of Tokyo invited the late Professor Walter Gellhorn CLS ’31, an architect of U.S.

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of Forms of government, government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are gener ...

, to be a visiting professor in the Faculty of Law. Professor Gellhorn envisioned a center for Japanese legal studies at Columbia to facilitate student and faculty exchanges and to disseminate research on the fundamental changes in post-war Japanese law and society. In 1980, the Center for Japanese Legal Studies was founded at Columbia Law School with support from the Fuyo Group (a leading group of Japanese corporations and financial institutions at the time) and the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission.

Curtis J. Milhaupt Curtis J. Milhaupt is professor of law at Stanford Law School. From 1999 until January 2018, he was the Parker Professor of Comparative Corporate Law, Fuyo Professor of Japanese Law, and the director of the Center for Japanese Legal Studies at Colu ...

directed the Center from 1999 through 2017.

Today

More than a quarter century later, the Center continues its mission to enhance the understanding of the Japanese legal system within the

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

community and beyond. During this time, the activities and reputation of the Center have grown in tandem with the increasing presence of Japanese students and scholars at Columbia Law School. In the decade from 1990 to 2009, the number of Japanese LL.M. students studying at Columbia Law School annually more than doubled. The number of students studying Japanese law at Columbia has increased steadily. And Columbia Law School sends more students each summer to complete internships in Japan, both in law firms and public interest organizations, than any other major U.S. law school. The Center is currently led by Executive Director Nobuhisa Ishizuka and Assistant Director Nick Pozek.

Toshiba Library

Among the wealth of resources available to the Center for Japanese Legal Studies is the Toshiba Library for Japanese Legal Research, which is considered to be among the finest private collections of Japanese Law and is the country’s premier collection of Japanese law materials. The library began in 1982 with a gift of the private collection of the late

Jiro Tanaka is a Japanese aircraft and automotive engineer. Career Tanaka graduated from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in March 1939 and joined the Tachikawa Aircraft Company in April 1939. In October of the same year, he enlisted in the Army and evalu ...

, Justice of the Supreme Court of Japan from 1964 to 1973. Columbia Law School's Arthur W. Diamond Law Library began developing a comprehensive Japanese law collection in 1984 to support research and teaching at the Center. A permanent position of Japanese law curator was established with a generous endowment from the

Toshiba Corporation , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

. In 2003, the collection was enhanced by a gift of the private collection of Itsuo Sonobe, a visiting scholar at the Columbia Law School in 1958, who served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Japan from 1989 to 1997. The Toshiba Library is tended by a full-time curator. The collection contains approximately 36,000 volumes of books and bound periodicals, more than 90 percent of which are in Japanese.

CJLS Programs

* Conducting academic research and publishing * Teaching students from around the world to become leading practitioners, academics, and public officials in their home countries * Arranging on-campus speaker series, as well as conferences in the United States and Japan * Facilitating a faculty exchange program with the University of Tokyo * Interacting with an energetic network of over 400 Japan-based alumni * Publishing newsletters and reports on current events related to Japanese law * Collaborating with other institutes, such as the

Weatherhead East Asian Institute The Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI) at Columbia University is a community of scholars affiliated with Columbia's schools, bringing together over 50 full-time faculty, a diverse group of visiting scholars and professionals, and students from ...

and

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...

’s Center on Japanese Economy and Business * Administering student fellowships, and study abroad programs at Waseda University and Hitotsubashi University * Providing advice and employment assistance to law students pursuing professional careers involving Japan

References

External links

The Center for Japanese Legal Studies' home page

Toshiba Library page on CJLS website

Toshiba Library page at the Columbia Law School Arthur W. Diamond
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Library website {{Columbia University Columbia Law School Japanese studies Educational institutions established in 1980 Research institutes in New York (state)