ILA JAPAN Branch History
Kazuhiro Nakatani
ILA Japan Branch Secretary General
The International Law Association Japan Branch (Kokusaiho Kyokai Nihonshibu) wasestablished on 13 December 1920 at the inauguration meeting held at Chuo-tei
Restaurant, Tokyo. Thomas Baty (1869-1954) helped the creation of the Japan Branch.
Baty, a British lawyer, served as the legal adviser of the Foreign Ministry of Japan.
The founding members of the Japan Branch included Nagao Ariga (1860-1921, legal
adviser at the Japan-China War and the Japan- Russia War), Tasuku Egi (1873-1932,Minister of Justice), Minoru Fujii (1880-1963, Ambassador to Chile), Hidei Fukuoka(1871-1932, Professor, Tokyo School of Foreign Studies), Yasushi Hijikata (1859-1929,Professor , Tokyo Imperial University), Takuzo Itakura (1879-1963, Professor, KeioUniversity), Masaharu Kato (1871-1952, Professor, Tokyo Imperial University,President of the Chuo University), Komaji Kikuchi (1878-1935, Counselor, Ministry ofForeign Affairs), Kazuo Matsubara(1877-1956, Professor, Chuo and Nihon Universities),
Yosuke Matsuoka (1880-1946, Foreign Minister), Arata Ninagawa (1873-1959,Professor, Doshisha and Komazawa Universities), Takenosuke Nozawa (1866-1941,Member of the House of Representatives), Fujitaro Oshima (1866-1931, Minister toMexico), Sakutaro Tachi (1874-1943, Professor , Tokyo Imperial University, legal
adviser of the Foreign Ministry), Setsuzo Sawada (1884-1976, Ambassador to Brazil),
Yotaro Sugimura( 1884-1939, Ambassador to Italy and France), Kenzo Takayanagi(1887-1967, Professor , University of Tokyo), Shiro Terada (1886-1977, Professor,Sophia University), Toru Terao (1859-1925, Professor , Tokyo Imperial University),
Tsunejuro Tomioka (1865-1943, Member of the International Commission of Inquiry
between United States and Uruguay), Saburo Yamada (1869-1965, Professor , Tokyo
Imperial University, President of the Japan Academy) and Tadao Yamakawa (1873-1962,Chief of Cabinet Legislation Bureau). Ariga, Baty,Fukuoka, Tachi, Terao, Tomioka,
Yamada and Yamakawa acted as Members of the Council. Baty, Tachi and Yamakawa
acted as Directors. There was no President. In 1922, Fukuoka and Yamada joined asDirectors. Fukuoka acted as Treasurer. Yamakawa and Hikomatsu Kamikawa (18891988, Professor, Tokyo Imperial University) acted as Honorary Secretaries.
The annual membership fee was 6 JPY which included the registration fee sent to theheadquarters (12 shilling 6 pence per member).
Art. 1 of the original Rule of the Japan Branch provided as follows: “ The purposes ofthe Branch is to research and consideration of subjects relating to international law inkeeping contact with the International Law Association and to take measures which areconsidered to be useful for making close relationship with academic societies ofinternational law in foreign countries. ” In Japan, the Japanese Society of International
Law (JSIL, Kokusaiho Gakkai) was established on 4 March 1897 at Fujimiken Restaurantin Tokyo. The ILA Japan Branch was in close relationship with the JSIL. The coremembers of the Branch and the JSIL overlap. Art. 2 of the Rule of the Branch provided
that Branch members were admitted among the JSIL members. Art. 12 provided that theBranch office was placed at the JSIL office at the University of Tokyo.
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The Japan Branch ceased its activities during WWII and its old records were burnt
away due to the bombardments in Tokyo. It was in the middle of 1950s when the Japan
Branch resumed its activities. Shigeru Kuriyama (1886-1971, Ambassador to Belgium.
When Supreme Court Justice) attended the1954 International Legal Conference held in
New Dehli as the representative of Japan, he discussed the question of the reconstitution of the Japan Branch with Mr. Harvey Moore, ILA Honorary Secretary
General. The discussion resulted in the reestablishment of the Japan Branch in 1955,
when Kuriyama was elected as President of the Branch. Reestablishment of the Japan
Branch was its new statute was formally acknowledged by the ILA Executive Council on
23 July 1955. The number of the Branch members reached 65 at the end of 1955.
The Officers of the Japan Branch in 1955 was as follows.
Honorary President : Saburo yamada, Honorary Vice President : Tadao Yamakawa,President : Shigeru Kuriyama, Vice-President: Kenzo Takayamagi, Honorary Treasurer:
Hisao Yanai, Honorary Secretary : Masao Ichimata
Kuriyama served as the President of the Branch until 1970.
The Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the Japan Branch are as follows.

Presidents:
1955-1970 Shigeru Kuriyama (ILA President 1964-1966)
1970-1993 Kisaburo Yokota (1896-1993, Professor, University of Tokyo, Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court)
1993-1995 Takeso Shimoda (1907-1995, Ambassador to the United States, SupremeCourt Justice)
1995-2000 Shigejiro Tabata (1911-2001, Professor, Kyoto University)
2000-2003 Yasuo Ishimoto (1924-2015, Professor, Osaka City University and Sophia
University)
2003-2009 Shigeru Oda (1924- , Professor Tohoku University, Vice President,International Court of Justice)2009-2012 Shunji Yanai (1937- , Ambassador to the United States, President,International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea)
2012-2014 Shinya Murase (1943- , Professor, Sophia University, Member of theInternational Law Commission)
2014-2016 Naoya Okuwaki (1946- , Professor, University of Tokyo)
2016-present Shunji Yanai (see above)
Vice Presidents
1955-1966 Kenzo Takayanagi (1887-1967, Professor, University of Tokyo)
1967- 1992 Takeo Suzuki (1905-1995, Professor, University of Tokyo)
1993-2000 Sueo Ikehara (1919-2000, Professor, University of Tokyo)
2000-2009 Toshijiro Nakajima (1925-2011, Ambassador to China, Supreme CourtJustice)2009-2012 Shinya Murase (see above)
2012- 2014 Shunji Yanai (see above)
2014-2016 Masato Dogauchi (1955- , Professor, Waseda University)
2016-present Naoya Okuwaki (see above)On 6 January 1960, the Japan Branch was authorized as an Incorporated Association(Shadan Hojin) .
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2From 16 to 22 August 1964, the Japan Branch hosted the ILA 51st Biennial Conferencein Tokyo. The Conference was a great success with a total of 567 participants (419 fromforeign countries) representing 34 countries. The record book of the Conference
including photos is available at http://www.ilajapan.org/doc/tokyo_1964.pdf
The Japan Branch published Japanese Annual of International Law from Number 1(1957) to Number 50 (2007) and publishes Japanese Yearbook of International Law
from Volume 51 (2008) to Volume 62 (2019). As to the history of the Annual andYearbook, see Keiichiro Niikura and Koichi Morikawa, The History, Development, Function, andFuture of the Japanese Yearbook (Annual) of International Law, Netherlands Yearbook ofInternational Law 2020(forthcoming),
The contents of the Japanese Yearbook (Annual) of International Law are available at

http://www.ilajapan.org/doc/contents.htm

On 9 April 2004, the Japan Branch held the Commemorative Seminar for Dr. Thomas
Baty “Contribution of Dr. Thomas Baty and Their Reappraisal.” at the University ofTokyo. For details, see http://www.ilajapan.org/doc/baty_e.pdf

On 1 April 2012, the Japan Branch was authorized as a General Incorporated
Association (Ippan Shadan Hojin).
The 79th Biennial Conference which the Japan Branch hosted was planned to be heldfrom 23 to 27 August 2020 at the Kyoto International Conference Center. However, due
to the widespread COVID-19 infection, the Conference was rescheduled as Online
Conference from 29 November to 13 December 2020 (the centenary date of theestablishment of the Japan Branch) .
The information of the Japan Branch is available in English at
http://www.ilajapan.org/doc/english_top.htm

Japan Branch Council Meeting on 15 December 2019 in Tokyo

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The University of Tokyo Faculty of Law Building where the Branch Office is situatedReferences
Kokusaiho Gaiko Zasssi (Journal of international Law and Diplomacy), vol. 20 No. 1(1921), pp. 124-126.
Masao Ichimata, Nihon no Kokusaihougaku wo Kizuita Hitobito (People who EstablishedInternational Legal Studies in Japan) (Nihon Kokusai Mondai Kenkyujo, 1973), pp. 139140.

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