Greetings to Our Alumni and Friends
A new academic year is fully underway at Columbia Law School. The Center for Japanese Legal Studies was very busy during 2023-2024, and we would like to take this moment to let you know about some of our activities.
Nobuhisa Ishizuka
Executive Director
Center Activities
Welcome Back!
We had the pleasure of welcoming CLS students and scholars interested in Japan with a well-attended in-person reception on September 20, 2024 and we look forward to hosting more events through the 2024-2025 academic year.
Exploring Asian American Attrition in U.S. Law Firms
The Center is collaborating with Justice Goodwin Liu of the California Supreme Court on a study of attrition among Asian American and other underrepresented groups at U.S. law firms. Columbia Law students Daniel Eem ’27 and Vincent Lin ’27 were accepted as research assistants, joining Andrea Ma ’25, who continues from last year. The team aims to produce a report by next year, supported by the Columbia Law School Anti-Racism Grantmaking Program (ARGP).
Supporting Student Research
Nicole Morote ‘25 was hired as a research associate. Her research focused on Japan’s 2015 Peace and Security Legislation.
Tokyo Alumni Reception
Columbia Law School will host its annual alumni reception in Tokyo in January. Dean Daniel Abebe and Nobuhisa Ishizuka will meet with alumni and share updates about the Law School's upcoming projects and programs. Details will be shared in the coming months.
Film Screening and Discussion
The Center organized a screening of A Long March (2022), a PBS documentary about the legal challenges faced by Filipino American veterans of World War II, on February 22, 2024. The screening was followed by a panel discussion with TS Botkin, Producer/Director; Anna Mercado Clark, President, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association; Sheila Coronel, Toni Stabile Professor of Professional Practice in Investigative Journalism, Columbia School of Journalism; and Bert Huang, Harold R. Medina Professor of Procedural Jurisprudence, Columbia Law School. The panel was moderated by Nobuhisa Ishizuka.
The event was co-sponsored by Weatherhead East Asian Institute, APALSA, and Nihon Hōritsu Kenkyukai (NHK).
L to R: Nobuhisa Ishizuka, TS Botkin, Professor Sheila Coronel, and Anna Mercado Clark.
Morrison & Foerster Public Interest Fellowships in Japan
Morrison & Foerster LLP supports the Center for Japanese Legal Studies by awarding fully funded public-interest fellowships with Japanese organizations. Applications will be solicited for the 2025 Fellowships during January/February 2025.
Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu Fellowship
The Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu (NO&T) Fellowship helps Columbia Law School attract the top J.D. candidates in the country with a professional interest in Japan. The Center awarded six NO&T Fellowships to incoming students in the Class of 2027 to Alfonso A. Arreola, Naomi Bonilla Hoshikawa, Jacob LaRose, Alex McOmie, Mika H. Sacre, and Jocelyn Niwa Meyer.
Shapiro Fellowship
The Center awards the Shapiro Fellowship to Columbia Law School students affiliated with the Center. The Isaac and Jacqueline Weiss Shapiro Fellowship supports research on Japanese law by Columbia Law School students working under the supervision of a Columbia University faculty member. This year’s fellowship will be awarded during the academic year.
NHK Student Group
The Center for Japanese Legal Studies would like to introduce the 2024-2025 leadership of Nihon Hōritsu Kenkyūkai (NHK) student group. Leadership includes Isak McCune and Miki Yang as Co-Presidents, Muling He as Treasurer, Rita Lin and Shoki Yoda as Social Chairs, and Chloe Hu as Academic Chair.
We extend our appreciation to the outgoing board in which Yudu (Ryan) Zang and Amy Tan served as Co-Presidents and Robert James Avila served as Treasurer.
Interested in NHK? Please feel free to contact NHK with any questions that you may have at [email protected].
University of Tokyo Faculty Exchange
One of the Center's flagship programs has been the Faculty exchange with the University of Tokyo. The Center administered the long-running faculty exchange program between CLS and the University of Tokyo, hosting visiting Japanese Professor Masayuki Tamaruya, an expert in trust law, and Professor Sayako Takizawa, an expert in antitrust regulation. In exchange, the Center sent Professor Katherine Judge and Professor Timothy Wu.
Beyond Columbia Law School
In addition to the above-mentioned activities, Center Executive Director Nobuhisa Ishizuka has authored an article, Existential Threats and Deterrence: Japan's Legal Pathway to Enhanced Collective Security in Asia, which will appear later this year in American University International Law Review (Issue 2, Volume 40).