Title: Japan’s Legal Transplants and Their Discontents: A Critical Appraisal

Speaker: Ratno Lukito (Professor, State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

Zoom Link:
https://kyoto-u-edu.zoom.us/meetings/87279603626/invitations?signature=elRXRFI25qZSVdqMP7etLrhEstQCLd0QM2uS1kpFBr8
Meeting ID: 872 7960 3626
Passcode: 555050

Abstract:
This presentation explores the tensions surrounding Japan’s long history of importing and adapting foreign legal models, from the Meiji era’s adoption of German and French codes to the American-led reforms during the post WWII Occupation. While these legal borrowings advanced modernization, state-building, and democratization, they also generated enduring discontents about the effectiveness and legitimacy of transplants. Scholars have highlighted these challenges in different ways. John Owen Haley points to the gap between law on the books and practice, where consensus-driven mechanisms undermine formal institutions. Daniel H. Foote critiques the limited impact of American reforms, pointing to courts’ reluctance to exercise strong judicial authority. Yasuhiro Okudaira describes Japan’s postwar framework as “hollow constitutionalism”–a structure constrained by entrenched political and bureaucratic practices. From a legal geography perspective, Kunihiko Yoshida further emphasizes the colonial dimensions of transplants and shows how the Civil Code served as an instrument of imperial expansion. Taken together, Japan’s experience illustrates both the limits and possibilities of legal borrowing, underscoring that successful transplants require adaptation to local culture, institutions, and historical context.

Bio:
Ratno Lukito, born in Yogyakarta on 22 March 1968, is a professor of comparative law at the Faculty of Shariah and Law, State Islamic University (UIN) Sunan Kalijaga, where he also teaches alongside his role at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He earned his master’s degree in Islamic Studies and later completed a doctorate in comparative law at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. A prolific scholar, Lukito has produced extensive research and writings on law and legal pluralism in Indonesia, publishing more than 14 books and 60 academic articles in international journals. His influential works include Legal Pluralism in Indonesia: Bridging the Unbridgeable (Routledge, London, 2013) and the Indonesian translation of his dissertation, Hukum Sakral dan Hukum Sekuler: Studi tentang Konflik dan Resolusi dalam Sistem Hukum Indonesia (Alvabet, Jakarta, 2008). His most recent publication, “Legal Transplant in Indonesia: Bridging Tradition and Modernity,” appeared in Social Sciences (Vol. 14, No. 2, 2025, pp. 60–77).