Law may arguably be described as the rules a society creates to govern how its members should interact with one another. Thus, in examining a country's laws and legal system we should be able to come to a better understanding of the dynamics and values of that society. The purpose of this course is to provide a foundation for understanding the place and use of law in modern Japan. The class will cover the history, structure, and fundamental substantive areas of Japanese law. Further, we will investigate and challenge some of the assumptions about the place of law in Japanese society. Topics covered in the first part of the course on Japanese legal structure include its legal history, judicial system, legal education, and legal profession. Topics covered in the second part of the course on Japanese legal society include Japan's views on litigation, foreigners, women, and minorities. Topics covered in the third part of the course on Japanese substantive law include the foundations and current topics in Japanese constitutional, criminal, contract, tort, and commercial law.

The purpose of this assessment scheme is to ensure broad-based familiarity with the fundamentals of Japanese Law and Society. That is, rather than seek a deep knowledge in one aspect of Japanese law, this course aims to develop a wide knowledge across the breadth of the topic. Three aspects of Japanese law and society are presented and will be covered in assessment: (1) the fundamentals of the Japanese legal system; (2) the context of the Japanese legal society; and (3) a brief review of Japan's major substantive laws.

The following assessment scheme is proposed:

• Attendance and Participation (5%)
• WebCT Discussion Postings (5%)
• News Assignment-Presentation (20%)
• News Assignment-Impressions Paper (20%)
• Final Examination OR Final Paper (50%).

This course meets twice a week for 90 minutes.  Student attendance and participation is worth 5% of assessment and WebCT discussion posting is worth 5% of assessment.  Do not take this course if you will rely on taping. I will endeavour to tape the course, but there is no guarantee that it will work. Classroom participation is an important part of this course that cannot be replaced by listening to tapes.

This course does not assume you have a knowledge of Japan or Japanese. However, if you have a background in Japanese or Asian Studies, you will be able to use this in your analysis of the topics covered in this course.

Completed or completing five LAWS courses at 1000 level.

There is no prescribed text.  All materials will be available as an eBrick on WebCT.

Readings will be available on the course WebCT page.

WebCT is an important element of this course, though by no means is this an on-line course which may be successfully taken only by engaging with the WebCT materials.