Contract Law in Japan

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this practical analysis of the law of contracts in Japan covers every aspect of the subject – definition and classification of contracts, contractual liability, relation to the law of property, good faith, burden of proof, defects, penalty clauses, arbitration clauses, remedies in case of non-performance, damages, power of attorney, and much more. Lawyers who handle transnational contracts will appreciate the explanation of fundamental differences in terminology, application, and procedure from one legal system to another, as well as the international aspects of contract law. Throughout the book, the treatment emphasizes drafting considerations.

An introduction in which contracts are defined and contrasted to torts, quasi-contracts, and property is followed by a discussion of the concepts of ‘consideration’ or ‘cause’ and other underlying principles of the formation of contract. Subsequent chapters cover the doctrines of ‘relative effect’, termination of  contract, and remedies for non-performance. The second part of the book, recognizing the need to categorize an agreement as a specific contract in order to determine the rules which apply to it, describes the nature of agency, sale, lease, building contracts, and other types of contract. Facts are presented in such a way that readers who are unfamiliar with specific terms and concepts in varying contexts will fully grasp their meaning and significance.

Its succinct yet scholarly nature, as well as the practical quality of the information it provides, make this book a valuable time-saving tool for business and legal professionals alike. Lawyers representing parties with interests in Japan will welcome this very useful guide, and academics and researchers will appreciate its value in the study of comparative contract law.

Hiroo Sono (LLB/LLM Hokkaido, LLM Michigan) is Professor of Law at Hokkaido University, Japan. His main fields of research interest are in contract law and international commercial law. He is one of the founding members of the CISG Advisory Council (CISG-AC) since 2001 and the Global Private Law Forum (GPLF) of Japan since 2014. From 2006 to 2008, he served as Counsellor, Civil Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Justice where he was responsible for Japan's accession to the CISG. Since 2008 he serves as the Japanese delegate to UNCITRAL Working Group VI (Security Interests) and since 2015 he is a correspondent to UNIDROIT.

His recent publications in English include 'Introductory Note (Uniform Law Treaties; Their Reception, Implementation, Success And Failure)' and 'Going Forward with Uniform Private Law Treaties: A Study in Japan's Behavioral Pattern', 60 Japanese Yearbook of International Law (2018); 'Articles 85-88' in UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG): A Commentary 1129 (S. Kröll, L. Mistelis & P.P. Viscasillas eds., C.H. Beck, 2nd ed. 2018); 'Integrating Consumer Law into the Civil Code: A Japanese Attempt at Re-Codification in Codifying Contract Law' in Codifying Contract Law: International and Consumer Law Aspects, 107 (M. Keyes & T. Wilson eds., Ashgate 2014); 'Private Enforcement of Consumer Law: A Sketch of the Japanese Landscape', 16 Hokkaido Journal of New Global Law and Policy 63 (2012); 'The Diversity of Favor Contractus: The Impact of the CISG on Japan's Civil Code and its Reform' in Towards Uniformity, 165 (I. Schwenzer & L. Spagnolo eds., Eleven International Publishing 2011); 'Japan's Accession to and Implementation of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG)', 53 Japanese Yearbook of International Law 410 (2010).

Luke Nottage (BCA/LLB/PhD VUW, LLM Kyoto) specialises in contract law, consumer product safety law, foreign investment regulation and international arbitration. He is Professor of Comparative and Transnational Business Law at Sydney Law School, founding Co-Director of the Australian Network for Japanese Law (ANJeL) and Associate Director of the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney (CAPLUS).

Luke's publications include Product Safety and Liability Law in Japan (Routledge 2004), International Arbitration in Australia (eds., Federation Press 2010), Foreign Investment and Dispute Resolution in Asia (eds., Routledge 2011), Consumer Law and Policy in Australia and New Zealand (eds., Federation Press 2013), International Investment Treaties and Arbitration Across Asia (eds., Brill 2018), ten other books, and many chapters and refereed articles.

He has or had executive roles in the Australia-Japan Society (NSW), the Law Council of Australia's International Law Section, the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, and the Asia-Pacific Forum for International Arbitration. Luke is also a Rules committee member of ACICA and listed on the Panel of Arbitrators for the AIAC (formerly KLRCA), BAC, JCAA, KCAB, NZIAC, SCIA and TAI. Luke has consulted for law firms worldwide, the EC, the OECD, the UNDP, ASEAN and the Japanese government, and has made numerous public Submissions to the Australian government on arbitration and consumer law reform. He qualified as a lawyer in New Zealand in 1994 and in New South Wales in 2001.

Andrew Pardieck (AB Harvard, JD Indiana, SJD. Hokkaido) formerly served as General Counsel for Temple University, Japan Campus. He is currently Associate Professor of Law at the Southern Illinois University School of Law, USA, where he teaches civil litigation and comparative law courses.

He researches and writes on varied topics, including 'America Seizobutsu Sekinin Sosho no Genjo to "Kanri Sareru Seigi" [Products Liability Litigation in the United States and "Managed Justice"]', in Festschrift in Honor of Professors Nobuhisa Segawa & Katsumi Yoshida, Vol. II (M. Matsuhisa et al. eds., Seibundo 2018); T. Maeda and A. Pardieck, 'ADR in Japan's Financial Markets & The Rule of Law' 10 Northeastern University Law Review 400 (2018); and 'Executing Contracts in Japan', 40 Journal of Japanese Law 183 (2015). He is also the author of Shoken Torihiki Kanyu no Ho Kisei: Kaiji Gimu, Setsumei Gimu o Koete [Regulating the Solicitation of Securities Transactions: Beyond Disclosure and the Duty to Explain] (Commercial Law Centre, 2001).