Justice via law – challenges to the legal profession in Japan

This article examines the evolution of Japanese legal ethics in the wake of the early twenty-first-century Judicial System Reforms. It charts the transition from an informal, ‘honour-based’ tradition to a structured professional discipline for bengoshis (attorneys), while identifying the theoretical and institutional obstacles that persist. The author contends that the future of the professional ethics of the bengoshis, who sometimes shield themselves by an idiosyncratic conception of ‘independence,’ depends on incrementally developing a system of norms reconciling their private interests with the public mandate for better protection of the citizen’s rights. Ultimately, success requires moving to an incentivised system and self-understanding that encourages lawyers to better align themselves to their social mission.