Historical Foundations of the Japanese Law-consciousness

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Other Title
  • 「日本的法意識」の歴史的基礎
  • ニホンテキホウ イシキ ノ レキシテキ キソ

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Abstract

The Japanese "law-consciousness" has been a very important subject in the modern sociology of law in Japan, because a serious contradiction has been found between the actual law-consciousness and the ideal one which was assumed when Japanese positive law was enacted according to the models of Europe and the United States since Meiji era.<br>This article intends to explore the origin of the Japanese law-consciousness. It has been argued that the law-consciousness is closely related to the retarded modernization. However, it should be reexamined, because the consciousness is still existent, despite the fact that Japanese society has been modernized for many years. My argument is that the Japanese law-consciousness was created in the Edo era and was not easily changed. The consciousness conformed to the positive law of Tokugawa Japan, and the latter had a peculiar character that was also different from that of premodern Europe as the origin of both modern positive law and modern law-consciousness.

Journal

  • The Sociology of Law

    The Sociology of Law 1983 (35), 34-47,247, 1983

    The Japanese Association of Sociology of Law

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