'Arasoi O Mizu Ni Nagasu' or 'Let the Dispute Flow to Water': Pedagogical Methods for Teaching Arbitration Law in American and Japanese Law Schools

Abstract

Traditionally, Japanese universities have utilized lectures, and not much else, in conveying legal understanding to their students. Yet, a new generation of Japanese law professors, inspired by the switch to the American model of legal education and increasingly interacting with their international colleagues, have started the process of revolutionizing their law school curriculum and how it is taught. In particular, this new generation of Japanese law professors has shown interest in developing courses on alternative methods to expensive and time-consuming litigation practices. Recognizing that arbitration law pedagogy may be vastly different from traditional, legal teaching methodologies, these same professors have sought advice from their international arbitration colleagues with regard to effective classroom teaching techniques. It was in this spirit that I was invited by my colleague, Professor Shunichiro Nakano of the Kobe University Graduate School of Law, to present a series of lectures on pedagogical methods for teaching arbitration law for the Center for Legal Dynamics of Advanced Market Societies (CDAMS) in Kobe, Japan on March 15, 2005. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, it aims to establish the import of teaching arbitration law in the American and Japanese law school classroom through an historical overview of arbitration law in both the United States and Japan. Second, it undertakes a discussion of effective pedagogical methods for teaching arbitration law. Overall, my hope is that this exercise in exploring effective pedagogical techniques will spur both American and Japanese law professors to consider alternative methods when teaching this important and often-neglected form of dispute resolution.