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Long-Term Strategies in Japanese Environmental Litigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Robert L. Kidder  and
Setsuo Miyazawa
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Abstract

Japan's reputation for unusually strong emphasis on the avoidance of public conflict and therefore for deemphasis of legal institutions suggests an arid, hostile environment for litigators, especially those who lack substantial resources. In a study of a quasi-class action lawsuit by Japanese air pollution victims, we find that litigation can be developed as a tool in the pursuit of a social movement's wider objectives despite the paucity of resources within the Japanese legal system. Our research documents the many ways in which the delays, obstacles, and costs that characterize the litigation environment in Japan have been either neutralized or turned to the advantage of a social movement because of its commitment to longer-term political objectives rather than short-term victories. The special role of professions in general, and the legal profession in particular, in such litigation combines with class-oriented social movements to produce a political/legal pattern that is neither traditionally harmonious nor a conflict “difficult to contain.”

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , Fall 1993 , pp. 605 - 627
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 1993 

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References

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14 This figure has been revised upward every time we have conducted interviews for this project.Google Scholar

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20 In 1992, professional organizations and the government agreed to increase this number from 500 to 700.Google Scholar

21 Our interpretation notwithstanding, our discovery that plaintiff leaders and lawyers consider delay advantageous may simply reflect the fact that only three years had passed since filing of the litigation when we completed data collection in 1992. Delay could become seriously disadvantageous if several more years pass before some kind of conclusion, a point we intend to monitor in future research.Google Scholar

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25 Lawyers and movement leaders estimate that during the first three years of litigation about 10% of the plaintiffs had become “inactive.” These are victims who have unofficially dropped out of the case, although their names remain on the roles as plaintiffs. Lawyers explain this phenomenon as a response to “pressure” put on plaintiffs by family members and/or employers. Family members, for example, may find their search for a job or a spouse being blocked because of their relative's involvement in litigation.Google Scholar

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28 Lebra, “Nonconfrontational Strategies,” at 56.Google Scholar

29 Hamilton & Sanders, Everyday Justice 214.Google Scholar