Chapter 3 Politics and Business

CultureQuest End of Chapter Case

Japan: More Laws, Fewer Lawyers
he Japanese political and le!al syste" presents a co"ple# picture$ %n the one hand,
Japan is a de"ocratic state, with stron! ci&ic and le!al institutions$ %n the other
hand, the country has characteristics of nonde"ocratic syste"s$ 't is a
de"ocracy yet (ust one party, the Li)eral *e"ocratic Party +L*P,, has run the
country al"ost continuously since the end of -orld -ar ''$ Japan is hi!hly
)ureaucratic as well$ *ecisions affectin! national policy are often "ade )y
"inistries with su)stantial power and influence and ties to )usiness and
industrial !roups$ .s a result, it is often said that Japan lac/s the pra!"atic
approach to chan!e that is co""on in -estern de"ocracies, and this is seen as
contri)utin! to Japan0s e#tended econo"ic "alaise$
o "ost forei!ners, Japanese politics "ay appear so"ewhat pu11lin!$ Policy does
not see" to chan!e re!ardless of who is leadin! the country, and, in fact, that0s the
ar!u"ent the person in the street !i&es when as/ed a)out his or her lac/ of interest in
politics$ 2-hy )other, nothin! chan!es$3 .ctually, "ost le!islation isn4t produced )y the
"e")ers of the *iet )ut )y "inisters and )ureaucrats$
he policy5"a/in! process in Japan is "ore si"ilar to the parlia"entary syste"s
of Europe and contrasts with the ."erican syste", in which presidential appointees
atte"pt to e#ercise control o&er )ranches of the )ureaucracy on )ehalf of the president$
't4s not unco""on in Japan for the influence and power of a Japanese "inistry or a!ency
to outli&e the rei!n of a pri"e "inister, as e&ident in the powerful Ministry of
'nternational rade and 'ndustry, )etter /nown as M''$
6ot surprisin!ly !i&en the culture, the Japanese political syste" also has a
tradition of !roup rather than personali1ed leadership$ Elderly states"en and party chiefs,
not indi&idual pri"e "inisters, often "a/e political decisions$ Ca)inet "e")ers are
usually appointed to head "inistries or a!encies for &ery )rief periods of ti"e and at "ost
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esta)lish only !eneral policy control$ 7ecently, co""entators ha&e )e!un to 8uestion this
lac/ of action$
Japan0s le!al syste" is &ery different fro" what "ost -esterners are used to$ For
e#a"ple, only since 9:;< ha&e forei!n le!al consultants +Gaigokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi,
)een allowed to pro&ide le!al ser&ices$ he re8uire"ents were "odified in 9::= with the
si!nin! of the ."end"ents to the Forei!n .ttorney Law$ 'n certain types of practices,
licensed le!al consultants fro" other countries can now practice to!ether with Japanese
attorneys$
.nyone plannin! on doin! )usiness in Japan should )ear in "ind that prefectures
and "unicipalities "ay create laws and re!ulations independently of each other, so lon!
as they do not contradict national laws$ 'n other words, there are local laws and
re!ulations in addition to laws that are consistent and unifor" throu!hout the country$
Each of the => prefectures "ay ha&e a sli!htly different re8uire"ent concernin!
paperwor/, for e#a"ple$
he Japanese are not &ery liti!ious? they !enerally prefer ar)itration and
co"pro"ise to institutin! lawsuits$ Lawyers encoura!e settle"ent out of court for all
disputes, and the a"ount of "oney awarded as co"pensation is a fraction of the a"ounts
awarded in ."erica, for e#a"ple$
'n recent years, "ore cases ha&e )een )rou!ht to court, )ut they ha&e tended to )e
hi!h5profile suits that had the support of a !roup$ he (ud!e "a/es the rulin! and decides
whether and how "uch to award as co"pensation? such cases do not !o )efore a (ury$
Japan had a (ury syste" at one ti"e, )ut it was discontinued after fi&e years since
ordinary citi1ens were &ery reluctant to "a/e i"portant decisions a)out other people4s
li&es$ o deter people fro" filin! suits, the plaintiff is re8uired to pay a lar!e filin! fee
and all le!al costs? attorneys "ay not ta/e cases on contin!ency$
%ne of the "ost si!nificant differences )etween Japanese law and the law in "any
other countries has to do with the power of contracts$ Japanese contracts are not
necessarily "eant to )e )indin!$ 7ather, founded on trust +shiny,, they4re often "ore
short state"ents of "utual intent$ he assu"ption is that if a chan!e occurs in the
circu"stances of the contract, the ter"s will )e rene!otiated$
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'f you enter into a -estern5style contract, which "ore co"panies are usin! as
they wor/ with o&erseas )usinesses, you will want to hire an En!lish5spea/in! Japanese
lawyer or a lawyer &ery fa"iliar with Japanese law to !uide you throu!h the process$ 'f
you or your co"pany is draftin! the contract, /eep the lan!ua!e as si"ple as le!ally
possi)le or pro&ide e#planations for le!al (ar!on$ Especially in s"aller co"panies, the
person appointed to translate or interpret the contract "ay ha&e li"ited En!lish5lan!ua!e
s/ills$ Le!alese will "a/e the docu"ent inco"prehensi)le$ .s you would do with any
cross5cultural a!ree"ent, )e sure to define currency e#chan!e rates and le!al processes
and lan!ua!e especially clearly$
Multi"edia E#ploration
The Diet is not something Japanese go on to loose weight; its the name given to the
Japanese equivalent of the U.. !ouse of "ep#esentatives.
READ$ SEE$ an% HEAR mo#e a&out Japan an% its politi'al an% legal system an% why
'ultu#e is so impo#tant in shaping its people$ its e'onomy$ an% the way &usiness is %one.
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE &y answe#ing the questions as well.
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