Vorwort der Herausgeber

2011 saw the celebration of “150 years of Japanese-German Friendship”. The two nations, Japan and Germany (initially Prussia), have been linked by a genuine friendship for a century and a half, something which is probably unique in the international relations of the Federal Republic of Germany. Japan is one of the leading Asian nations and is the only one among them to have had a legal system shaped on western European conceptions for more than a hundred years. For a long time, it was the only country outside of the “western” sphere that was on equal economic and political footing with the industrialized nations of those regions, all the while remaining committed to its own historical and cultural tradition.

From 3 to 5 November 2011, the German-Japanese Association of Jurists, the Humboldt Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Japanese-German Center Berlin, and the Keio University held the symposium “Rechtstransfer in Japan und Deutschland” [Legal Transfers in Japan and Germany] on the grounds of the university in Tokyo. The conference, originally planned for the spring, had to be postponed until fall due to the tragic events of 11 March 2011. The contributions to the conference are presented here in revised and edited form.

Thematically, the book is divided into five chapters. It begins with an analysis of the selective reception of German law in Japan since the Meiji era (I). This is followed by a comparison of the Americanization of economic law in Japan and Germany subsequent to 1945 (II); thereafter come current issues associated with the Europeanization and modernization of the law of obligations (III). Chapter IV deals with the transfer of Japanese and German law to reforming states in Asia and Eastern Europe. The book concludes with some reflections on the meaning and limits of comparative criminal law (V).

[Excerpt from Foreword]