The Supreme Court and Benign Elite Democracy in Japan

'A masterful study of the contributions of judges to the governance of Japan's benign elite democracy, and how they think in their judicial decision-making. Hiroshi Itoh has enjoyed extraordinary access to the judicial mind through numerous interviews of Supreme Court justices. Comprehensive, accurate and nuanced.' Lawrence W. Beer, Lafayette College, USA 'This is a definitive work on the Japanese Supreme Court at work. Professor Itoh's empirical and longitudinal analysis of the constitutional litigation is scholarly and commendable. Highly original are his main contentions that judicial conservatism on civil liberties and judicial self restraint vis-A -vis the political branches have contributed to maintaining the benign elite governance and conservative democracy in Japan.' Itsuo Sonobe, former Supreme Court Justice of Japan 'This book offers very useful insights into the Supreme Court, and the relationship between justices' attitudes and their decisions, thus providing us with very rich sources of information to understand the behaviour of the Japanese Supreme Court.' Pacific Affairs 'The Supreme Court and Benign Elite Democracy in Japan, is ambitious in scope. It brings together a number of different analytical frameworks to give a thorough and interesting account of the Supreme Court... could be usefully included in readings for courses on Japanese law; constitutional law, courts and judiciaries generally; or Japanese government and politics.' Australian Journal of Asian Law 'The Supreme Court and Benign Elite Democracy in Japan is a treasure trove of information about the Japanese Supreme Court. It answers many questions about that institution and it raises many more.' Journal of Japanese Studies