The Supreme Court and Benign Elite Democracy in Japan Hiroshi Itoh The Supreme CourT and Benign eliTe demoCraCy in Japan To Nobu, dedicated researcher The Supreme Court and Benign elite democracy in Japan hiroShi iToh State University of New York at Plattsburgh, USA © hiroshi itoh 2010 all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. hiroshi itoh has asserted his right under the Copyright, designs and patents act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. published by ashgate publishing limited ashgate publishing Company Wey Court east Suite 420 union road 101 Cherry Street Farnham Burlington Surrey, gu9 7pT VT 05401-4405 england uSa www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data itoh, hiroshi. The Supreme Court and benign elite democracy in Japan. 1. Japan. Saiko Saibansho. 2. Constitutional law--Japan. 3. Judicial process--Japan. i. Title 347.5'2035-dc22 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data itoh, hiroshi. The Supreme Court and benign elite democracy in Japan / by hiroshi itoh. p. cm. includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-7603-4 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-1-4094-0774-4 (ebook) 1. Japan. Saiko Saibansho. 2. Judicial process--Japan. 3. Japan--Politics and government--1945- i. Title. KnX1586.i88 2010 347.52'012--dc22 2010004870 ISBN 9780754676034 (hbk) ISBN 9781409407744 (ebk) Contents List of Figures vii List of Tables ix Foreword by David S. Law xi Acknowledgements xiii List of Abbreviations xv introduction 1 1 elite governance in Japan 7 2 Judicial Decision-Making 39 3 Judicial Impact and Feedback 85 4 Judicial attitudes on the grand Bench 115 5 Judicial attributes of Justices 197 6 Judicial role of the Supreme Court 241 Conclusions 275 Appendix 1 – A List of Cases Cited 283 Appendix 2 – A List of Supreme Court Justices, 1947–2009 295 Appendix 3 – The Constitution of Japan 315 Appendix 4 – Court Structures in Civil and Criminal Proceedings 329 Bibliography 331 Index 339 This page has been left blank intentionally list of Figures 4.1 Linkage analysis of the Mano Court (2) 174 4.2 Smallest space diagram of the Mano Court (2) 175 4.3 Smallest space diagram of the Mano Court (2) 175 4.4 Smallest space diagram of the Mano Court (2) 176 4.5 Linkage analysis of the K. Tanaka Court (1) 178 4.6 Smallest space diagram of the K. Tanaka Court (1) 179 4.7 Smallest space diagram of the K. Tanaka Court (1) 179 4.8 Smallest space diagram of the K. Tanaka Court (1) 180 4.9 Linkage analysis of the K. Tanaka Court (2) 181 4.10 Smallest space diagram of the K. Tanaka Court (2) 182 4.11 Smallest space diagram of the K. Tanaka Court (2) 182 4.12 Smallest space diagram of the K. Tanaka Court (2) 183 4.13 Linkage analysis of the Okuno Court (1) 183 4.14 Smallest space diagram of the Okuno Court (1) 184 4.15 Linkage analysis of M. Yokota Court (2) 185 4.16 Smallest space diagram of the M.Yokota Court (2) 185 4.17 Linkage analysis of the J. Tanaka Court 186 4.18 Smallest space diagram of the J. Tanaka Court 187 This page has been left blank intentionally list of Tables 4.1 Types of divided and unanimous constitutional decisions (1947–1973) 120 4.2 Propensity of divided constitutional decisions (1947–1973) 171 4.3 abolition of penalties 190 4.4 Constitutional rights of individuals on trial 192 4.5 Socio-political decisions 194 4.6 Socio-economic decisions 195 6.1 activism and restraint 242 6.2 Constitutional litigations in the petty benches (1947–1999) 264