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Colin P.A. Jones
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Dec 1, 2018
Carlos Ghosn's arrest is more about Japanese criminal justice than corporate governance
A 'hostage-based' criminal justice system, second arrests and trial by public all play a part in a case that the world is watching.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Nov 25, 2018
School rules in Japan offer harsh lessons in mindless assimilation
"You may not put more than three pencils in your pencil box/ If you wish to speak in class, raise your hand forward at a 70-degree angle/ No going to the toilet in groups/ You must finish using the toilet within seven minutes/ Use no more than 30 cm of toilet paper each time/ Even if parents or siblings,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Nov 8, 2018
Jail in Japan for cannabis in Canada? Possible but unlikely
Possession and receipt of marijuana are illegal for Japanese citizens even overseas, but don't expect urine checks at immigration.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Oct 10, 2018
Japan demonstrates how too many rules can ruin governance
Culture of over-regulation helps explain the country's persistent problem with data falsification.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Sep 5, 2018
Dog tale bites judge: His tweets muzzled, Japan's 'Judge White Briefs' faces his own trial
Disciplinary hearings for outspoken jurist over a dog-dumping story can only damage Japan's judiciary.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Aug 5, 2018
The Kanpo: Where everything in Japan goes to happen (officially)
Read all about it in the government's daily gazette, from laws and notices of naughtiness to deaths and even poetry.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jul 1, 2018
Japan on just 10 judges a day costs a pretty penny
With over 1,000 courts but less than 4,000 judges, somehow 3.5 million cases get cleared every year.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jun 3, 2018
Left-behind dad's last resort: Impeach Japan's Supreme Court judges
Dogged father in Hague Convention case shines a light on a check-and-balance on the judiciary that barely functions.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2018
Keeping parents and children together is basic common sense
Punishing migrant children for the sins of their parents is both stupid and contrary to fundamental American ideals.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
May 13, 2018
When 'Japanese only' rules were OK, and other odd Supreme Court cases
Did that headline grab you? I hope so, because how else are we supposed to get you to read an article about Japanese Supreme Court cases?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Apr 1, 2018
Japan's Supreme Court orders a child be sent home in a Hague parental abduction case. Maybe.
Defanged habeas corpus grew some teeth in last month's Nagoya international custody ruling, but the problem of toothless enforcement remains.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 11, 2018
Schools plus rules equals Japan minus two
Having experienced schools around the world, why do Colin P.A. Jones' daughters rank Japan's bottom of the class?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Feb 7, 2018
A year in the (short) life of Japan's Cabinet
Early each year, Law of the Land likes to reflect on what one of Japan's three branches of government did the previous one. This time we'll look at the surprisingly durable Shinzo Abe habitat known as the Cabinet.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Dec 31, 2017
Japan's Supreme Court hands down a road map for parental child abductions
The top court's latest ruling suggests judges will find ways to avoid messy Hague Convention returns that Japan lacks the means to enforce anyway.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Dec 3, 2017
Different constitutions, similar defect?
The Meiji Constitution rise and fall of the affects contemporary constitutional attitudes.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Nov 5, 2017
At the polls, a sweep for Abe and a rubber stamp for Japan's Supreme Court judges
Perhaps unwittingly, Japanese voters just gave their silent nod to the seven most recent appointees to the nation's top court.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Oct 15, 2017
Duck and cover: Regulation by and for the state, through the Japanese people
Bureaucrats rustle up policies that require citizens to do their duty, however irrationally.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Sep 3, 2017
How Japan got new contract law it neither wants nor needs
One possible explanation for the inexplicable change in contract law: It is a giant experiment driven by academic hubris and bureaucratic ambition.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Aug 16, 2017
Dentsu may not escape with summary justice
Last month, a Tokyo summary court judge ruled that advertising giant Dentsu would not get away with just paying a fine for violating the Labor Standards Act attributable to a culture of excessive overtime blamed for the death of several employees. The company will have to endure scrutiny of its employment...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jul 16, 2017
When open minds fight closed courts in Japan
Pressure from academic Lawrence Repeta opened Japan's courts to scrutiny by journalists from outside the press clubs, as well as scholars and bloggers.

Longform

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