Conclusion
Japan has a modern and developed legal system and legal institutions. As with all societies, the context in which this system and these institutions operate impacts eventual legal outcomes in some predictable and many unpredictable ways.
That context is complicated by the vast law reform over the turn of the 21st century and how that reform will alter existing and create new legal institutions. Indeed, many of the reforms are based on critiques of Japanese legal culture that are conÂtradictory in their assumptions. Thus, our ability to predict the broader Japanese legal landscape as it evolves is severely limited. Nevertheless, we are confident noting that Japanese law and its institutions will remain dynamically in perpetual evolution responding to changes in the greater domestic societal context, such as demographic shifts, while cognisant and open to lessons developed outside of Japan, both within Asia and globally.