The Case for Teaching Japanese Law at American Law Schools

Abstract

Teaching Japanese law in American law schools may not currently rank as the single most important curriculum need to be filled, but as the relationship between the United States and Japan becomes increasingly complex and "legal" in nature, real knowledge of (not just exposure to) Japanese systems, including the legal system, will be an absolute necessity for any attorney engaged in a sophisticated practice in the United States. Furthermore, for any law student, comparing the role of law in any given society can be enlightening. In this age of creeping student consumerism, it is even more fundamental that law professors continue to push students to think the unthinkable and learn the apparently unlearnable. It is through such a process that a student's mind grows, which in turn develops the student's ability to think creatively and develop new methods of problem-solving. Toward these ends, studying Japanese law is unquantifiably beneficial.