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• Rare E. coli type behind large outbreak in Japan

  Researchers in Japan have been unable to pinpoint the contamination route of a large outbreak that sickened more than 170 people. In June 2022, 171 of 934 people suffered mainly from diarrhea and abdominal pain after eating boxed lunches in the Kinki region.

• Why Does the Concept of Joint Employment Exist? (There are Good Reasons!)

  At Michino-Eli Yamada, a diner in Japan, you can order oyster-infused soft serve ice cream, topped with soy sauce. While that sounds like a truly awful blend of flavors (and a waste of perfectly good soft serve), the diner is getting plenty of press for its creativity. There seems to be some competition in Japan...

• How Shareholder Activism in the U.S. and Japan Converged

  In a recently published paper I argue that the recent surge in shareholder activism in Japan is not simply the product of Japanese policy reforms. Rather, it results from a convergence of two parallel historical trajectories: a decades-long evolution of U.S. hedge fund tactics toward quieter, partnership-based engagement, and Japan’s gradual shift toward a more...

• BESS and the Japan Power Market The Current State of Play at LTDA Auction Round 3

  Japan's Long-Term Decarbonization Power Source Auction Round 3 results signal a maturing BESS market, with stricter eligibility requirements, evolving balancing market regulations, and emerging co-location opportunities changing the investment landscape for energy storage developers.

• No Spoilers! Japanese Copyright Infringer Receives a Stiff Penalty

  As fearsome as Godzilla has proven to be over the decades, the indomitable kaiju may have found its foil in Japanese copyright law.  A Tokyo court recently found several individuals guilty of violating Japanese law for publishing spoiler-heavy posts, including in relation to a recent Godzilla movie, on an entertainment review website.  The penalty for...

• Better than Robot Caregivers?

  It is Monday and time for news that puts smiles on our faces. This week, the New York Times has an article with the title “Japan’s New Care Workers: Bodybuilders, Wrestlers and M.M.A. Fighters.” The photos alone are worth the visit to the article. You can see the older men getting inspiration to pump a...

• Japan launches financial task force on AI security

  It is reported that Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has scheduled a meeting with leaders from Japan’s largest banks and financial institutions, including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group, to discuss Anthropic’s AI model Mythos, as reported by sources familiar with the matter. This meeting, expected to occur this week,...

• Japan Cabinet approves easing data protection law to promote AI development

  Japan’s Cabinet has approved a bill to revise the personal data protection law, easing restrictions on the use of individual information to accelerate the development and adoption of AI technology. The revisions will facilitate companies’ access to personal data while introducing fines for violations, following the government’s AI basic plan aimed at making Japan the...

• Overview and Practical Impact of the Economic Security Management Guidelines

  Introduction — Significance of the Guidelines The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) published the Economic Security Management Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) on 23 January 2026. The Guidelines describe how companies should position economic security as a management issue, reflect it in their strategies and address it under an effective governance framework. This article focuses...

• Virtual Presentation (in English) on March 24, 2026: Prof. TU Guangjian on Legislative Jurisdiction, Adjudicatory Jurisdiction and Enforcement Jurisdiction: How Can They Be Reconciled in Private International Law and Beyond?

  The next Asian Private International Law Academy (APILA) meeting will be on Tuesday 24 March (not 17 March) when Professor Tu Guangjian will introduce his work in progress on “Legislative Jurisdiction, Adjudicatory Jurisdiction and Enforcement Jurisdiction: How Can They Be Reconciled in Private International Law and Beyond?”. Professor Tu looks forward to the insights and...

Featured documents

• Concerns About Glaxo Drug Avandia and PPAR Drugs

  Article in the Wall Street Journal — Avandia Concerns Reopen a Wider Debate, by Anna Wilde Mathews and Jeanne Whalen.  Here’s an excerpt: The assertion that GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s widely used diabetes drug Avandia is tied to a risk of heart attacks will reopen debate over a potentially valuable, but ...

• On The Demise Of China Manufacturing….Kidding. Part II

  For the only barely related part I of this post, go here.   I just got back from a very long and very fruitful trip to Tokyo. I was there with co-blogger Steve on behalf of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, assisting with the trial of anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune. If you want to see......

• Antitrust Aspects of Dealing with the Japanese Earthquake

  by Wilko van Weert The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has issued two Communications on the extent to which industry coordination intended to deal with the aftermath of the great Tohoku earthquake catastrophe will or will not run afoul of Japanese antitrust rules.  The JFTC’s guidance does not...

• Apple cites recent Japanese court ruling as evidence against standard-essential patent exclusion order (ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-794)

  Last week, it was reported that Apple won a decision against Samsung in Tokyo, Japan, where a judge ruled that Samsung failed to negotiate in good faith with Apple before bringing patent infringement claims over its standard-essential patents.  Until today, the court’s actual ruling was not...

• Japanese data privacy developments – global transfers and privacy notices code

  This post was also written by Taisuke Kimoto, Matthew N. Peters, and Yumiko Miyauchi. In recent weeks, Japanese data protection and privacy law has seen developments in two areas: (1) The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) issuing its first code of practice on privacy notices (2) The...

• Japan Amends its Data Privacy Law: “Big Data” Comes with New Regulations

  The Japanese Diet passed amendments to the Personal Information Protection Act on September 3, 2015, which will become effective within the next two years. While further details will be revealed in upcoming implementing regulations, several major changes, which are summarized below, are clear from...

• Crew Member Missing From Costa Serena

  A crew member from the Costa Serena is reportedly missing from the cruise since since November 19, 2016, according to his family.  According to his brother who posted information on Twitter, Savio Rasquinha disappeared from the Costa Serena.  The cruise line has produced no CCTV and has offered no...

• Japan: Defendant shelved – IP High Court judgement finds for unfair competition

  The Intellectual Property High Court (IPHC) rendered a judgement on 29 March 2018, granting a permanent injunction on the sale of shelving units marketed by the defendant. The IPHC found that the shelving units had similar characteristics to shelving units marketed by the plaintiff, and thus...

• Land of the Falling Poison Pill: Understanding Defensive Measures in Japan

  The advent of the “shareholder rights plan,” more popularly known as the “poison pill,” fundamentally altered the trajectory of American corporate governance. Intended to defend vulnerable boards from corporate raiders, the poison pill was embraced by U.S. managers in the 1980s as a lifeline in a...

• Japan Lifts State of Emergency for Regions Outside of Tokyo and Osaka, Hokkaido

  On May 14, 2020, the Japanese government announced that it has lifted the state of emergency for 39 prefectures, including Aichi, Fukuoka and Ibaraki. Although the largely voluntary restrictive measures under the state of emergency have been lifted with respect to these 39 prefectures, the Japanese ...