The Compendium of Basic Laws of Japan, by Ted Toku Morita. Kojinsha, Tokyo, 2011, 287 pp. (paperback)

Add another reference book to your Japanese shelf; there's a wedge of space between the kanji dictionary and your battered "Japanese for Busy People." Ted Toku Morita's translation, "The Compendium of Basic Laws of Japan," is one of those reference books you will be glad to have if the need arises.

As Morita explains in the preface, an English version of Japanese law had never been available to the international society before 2010, and he "thus collected Japanese basic laws frequently used." Morita provides his translation alongside the original Japanese for easy reference. A graduate from the Department of Law, Meiji University, and a former employee of the Kanagawa Prefectural Government, Morita also spent time working for the U.S. State of Maryland.

Nine laws are collected in accordance with the "Japanese Law Translation Database System": the Constitution, the Civil Code, the Companies Act, the Code of Civil Procedure, Nationality Act, Labor Standards Act, Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, Act for the Prevention of Spousal Violence, and, finally, the Penal Code of Japan.