Japan's economic success is due to the protection afforded private property by the laws and the courts. The number of legally-trained persons working in Japan is roughly the same as in the United States, adjusted for population. Japanese contract law closely resembles U. S. contract law, and contracts are strictly enforced in Japan. The litigation rate in Japan is lower than that in the U. S. only because judicial decisions are easier to predict and there are no juries. The rates for blackmail of corporate executives is the same in Japan and the United States.
Gangsters have no special influence in Japan.
Japanese courts have powerful ways of forcing defendants to comply with their orders and they do make use of them. Japan's low crime rate is due to the ethnic, racial, religious and socioeconomic homogeneity of its population. Japanese courts, citing the rule of law, no longer permit administrative guidance. The authors have demonstrated the utility of the economic approach to analysis of the law and legal system of countries around the world. The approach reveals inefficiencies and can contribute to legal reform.