The Virtues of Triangular Comparison. Looking at Japanese Law through Italian Lenses

Japanese law has often been depicted in a highly stereotypical and Orientalist way. The reasons are manifold. The lack of direct access to Japanese sources, limited direct exchange with local experts, and sometimes even the stance of influential insiders rank among the most significant factors. Post-war studies by American scholars addressed this problem, but created another: some overemphasized peculiarities of Japanese law without adequately considering that those characteristics are not unique to Japan, but are found in many civil law systems of continental Europe. As Italian jurists, we do not find the Japanese system especially exotic or strange. Japan is a civil law jurisdiction, affected, as many others, by hybridizations with the American model. Notably, the development of Japanese law shares remarkable similarities with that of Italy. In this paper we address the historical development of contemporary Japanese law, some perduring stereotypes and myths about the Japanese legal system, and demonstrate how an ‘Italian’ perspective can be suited to analyse Japan.