History Of Law In Japan Since 1868

This handbook volume traces the development of Japan’s feudal legal system into that of a modern type of a state, covering the period from the beginning of modernization in1886 to the end of the Pacific War, and, beyond that, the period of reorientation (1945-1950) and thereafter.
Each author follows closely the development of a main branch of the legal system, describing the path of a legal institution progressing through a semi-feudalistic period, the introduction of western views, as well as the coexistence and mixture of essentially Japanese and European or American notions at the same time.
A careful analysis of Japan’s dealings with its legal system through a time of unprecedented change, and therefore a must for historians and jurists alike.

Wilhelm Röhl, LL.D. (1950), Ph.D. (1955) in Japanology, University of Hamburg, was jurist in various positions, and has retired. He has published extensively on Japanese legal history, pre-modern law in particular.