The Center for Japanese Legal Studies is truly one of a kind. Founded in 1980, it is the first and only center focused on Japanese law in the United States.The Center actively promotes research on Japanese law, aided by the country’s premier collection of Japanese legal materials. The Center also strives to be the principal source of intellectual exchange between the legal professions of the United States and Japan.

Columbia, the first law school in the United States to offer courses in Japanese law, now has over 400 graduates – both Japanese and American – working in Japan as lawyers, academics, judges, and government officials. These Columbia graduates have been instrumental in reforming the judicial system and modernizing the practice of corporate law in Japan, reforms that are shaping the future of Japanese society.