This book reassesses Japanese product liability law and practice, and broader trends in product safety, in historical and global context. It contests the 'culturalist' view that Japan remains in the thrall of weak legal consciousness and consumerism, by comparing developments not only in the United States, but also Europe and Australia. The still-birth of product liability in the early 1970s, in the wake of environmental disasters in Minamata and mass litigation regarding defectives products, is contrasted with its re-birth from the late 1980s, prompted partly be deregulation. Product liability law in Japan, especially legislation enacted in 1994, is then compared with the law in the European Union, Australia and the United States, rejecting the view that the former is distinctly more 'anti-consumer'. The pervasive impact of this re-birth and the legislation over the 1990s is gauged by analysing patterns of litigation, forms of alternative dispute resolution, other responses by companies and consumers, and various case studies, the latter include incidents involving defective foodstuffs, particularly during the 'summer of eating dangerously' in mid-2000, and Japan's outbreak of mad cow disease in mid-2001. This leads to a review of broader developments in product safety regulation, comparing Japan mainly with the European Union, The book concludes that new processes are emerging in Japan, as in other complex industrialised democracies, which render product safely regulation more private and product liability more public.
By:
Luke Nottage
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 770g
ISBN: 9780415296854
ISBN 10: 0415296854
Pages: 328
Publication Date: 22 January 2004
Audience:
General/trade
,
Professional and scholarly
,
College/higher education
,
ELT Advanced
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. 'Re-orienting' Japan and its law 2. The still-birth and re-birth of product liability in Japan 3. Comparing the PL Law with other 'strict liability' regimes in Europe, Australia and the US 4. The PL Law in action 5. The future of PL in Japan: reformulations, reform and re-regulation
Dr Luke Nottage is a Senior Lecturer at Sydney University Law Faculty and founding Co-director of the Australian Network for Japanese Law. He has practised law in Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
Reviews for Product Safety and Liability Law in Japan: From Minamata to Mad Cows
'Nottage's book is certainly the product of diligent research - a much needed addition to scholarship on Japan, helpful to students of comparative law, the Japanese legal system, and Japanese society alike.' - Japanese Studies, Vol 23, No 3
