No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Laws and Regulations in Japan
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 February 2019
Abstract
What the Anglo-American refers to as “law,” the German calls “Recht” and the Frenchman “droit,” the Japanese calls “ho,” a term imported from ancient China. Searching back for its oldest meaning, we find that it is a compound ideograph comprised of a character originally signifying a kind of sacred beast which accused criminals were forced to touch, its reaction instantly determining guilt or innocence, and an abbreviated form of the character for water, an ancient symbol of impartiality. Thus the original meaning combines both the concepts of revealing guilt and of fairness, a characteristic shared with the western terms. In addition, the character is used in numerous other meanings, including institution, restraint, permanence, reason or truth, exemplar, standard, and means.
- Type
- Articles
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © 1979 International Association of Law Libraries.
Footnotes
*
Goro Ishii, Chief of Coordinating Section, Research and Legislative Reference Dept., National Diet Library, Tokyo.
References
1 Morohashi, Tetsuji: inDai Kanwa Jiten (Dictionary of Classical Chinese), Tokyo, Taishukan (1958),Vol. 6, p.6755, section on “Hō.”Google Scholar
2 Major European references on Japanese law in general:von Mehren, A.T., Law in Japan; the Legal Order in a Changing Society, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, Tokyo, C.E. Tuttle,1964, p.706. Rohl, Wilhelm, Fremde Einflusse im modernen japanischen Recht, Frankfurt am Main, A. Metzner, 1959, p. 71. Noda, Yoshiyuki, Introduction au droit japonais, Paris, Dalloz, 1966, p. 285.Google Scholar
3 Zensho, Roppō, Tokyo, Yühikaku ed. annual. Roppō Zensho, Tokyo, Iwanami Shoten ed. annual.Google Scholar