抄録
This paper takes up postwar judicial dockets in Japan and focuses on litigation rates (cases per 100,000 capita) of civil trial cases at district courts and summary courts for the last fifty years. These rates are divided into two categories; i.e. those of cases carried out without attorney representations (“in-person case rates”) and those with their representation on an either side or on both (“representation case rates”), and are calculated respectively at the prefectural level. Both categories show peculiar and significant regional differences and the determining social background factors are sought for analytically, statistically and theoretically. A main determinant for the regional differences of “representation case rates” is likely to be the number of attorneys in the area, but that of “in-person case rates” seems to be more complicated. Especially perplexing is traditional and long-lasting relatively high “in-person case rates” in the western part of Japan centering around Kyushu area, irrespective of the level of urbanization. This paper tries to explain this complexity by pointing out and combining three social determining factors (“level of modernization,” “economic prosperity” and “two traditional cultures”). The high rates in urban areas (e.g. Tokyo and Osaka) and a recent settled land (Hokkaido) are mainly determined by the first factor. The relatively low rates in mainly central part of Japan are, at the same time, considered generally wealthy areas in Japan, hence the strong influence of the second economic factor. The traditional culture in the western Japan may have been and be less rejective to modern judiciary than that of the eastern part. This pluralistic perspective is original and creative, while it is based on the past socio-legal academic tradition and knowledge in Japan.
https://ror.org/03tgsfw79 
