Abstract
Since early in the 1990s, reform of the administration of justice system has been discussed among lawyers and businesses in Japan. In 1990 the Japan Federation of Bar Associations declared that the reform must be considered as one of their long-term objectives in order to widen the juridical field, which had been greatly limited in Japan. The government has put the issue on its agenda. The author overviews trends in the number of civil litigation since the end of the World War II and identifies the massive increase since the middle of the 1970s, which is one of the background factors in the recent reform movements. The author also presents a theoretical perspective in order to put the reform into the context of structural changes in the Japanese society. He shows that the internationalization and deregulation in the Japanese economy is a driving force in the calls for reform of the justice system. He also points out that people have come to recognize that making the legal system quicker, more responsive, and less bureaucratic is indispensable for the sound development of civil society.
