Abstract
The political language for the current debates on judicial reforms are dominated by the deregulationist-protectionist dichotomy. I argue that this dichotomy does not adequately capture the pathology of contemporary Japan: the tyranny of intermediary groups that undermines both the rights of individuals and the state's power to seek public interest. Judicial reforms should be part of the larger politico-economic reconstruction of Japan in which these groups are disciplined by rule of law as embodied in the universalistic and fair schemes of competition and human rights protection.
