David T. Johnson and Setsuo Miyazawa. “Japanese Court Reform on Trial.” In The Legal Process and the Promise of Justice: Studies Inspired by the Work of Malcolm Feeley. Edited by Rosann Greenspan, Hadar Aviram, and Jonathan Simon, pp. 122-138. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2019.

This chapter evaluates contemporary court reform in Japan, arguing that it is too early to determine whether the reforms have succeeded. The author suggests that assessments will remain divided because stakeholders, judges, lawyers, policymakers, and the public, hold competing and incompatible expectations about what reform should accomplish. As a result, the ultimate judgment on Japan’s judicial reforms is likely to be mixed, reflecting structural tensions within the legal system rather than a clear success or failure.