Japan and U.S. Defamation Law

Paper Summary:

The paper explores the law on defamation and insult in Japan and quotes many civil defamation cases. The paper focuses on the laws for defamation of public officials and then compares the defamation laws in Japan with those of the United States. The paper shows how the United States legitimized tolerance under law for each person and has more lenient defamation laws. Three cases in the US that set a nationwide defamation standard in the Supreme Court are also examined. The paper opines that, with time, the Japanese appellate courts may come to nurture freedom more positively than in the past.

From the Paper:

"Close to the center of the heart of humankind are a person's conscience and sense of honor. Each culture maintains a somewhat distinctive style of manifesting these concerns and its own balance between reliance on self-judgment and reliance on community judgment of an individual's conduct in solving universal problem of having the minimum necessary order and cohesion in society. To speak of an "Oriental concern for face" is not to speak appropriately of a concrete reality because "Oriental" is a dangerous abstraction from mind-boggling diversity and because "face" is a great concern in virtually all social cultures. (Inega, 1953, p. 253-255)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Asahi Shibun, October 2 (evening ed.), 1981; Japan Times, October 3, 1981.
• Felknor, Bruce L. Political Mischief: Smear, Sabotage, and Reform in U.S. Elections. New York 1992
• Ienaga, Saburo: History of Japan, Tourist Library, Vol. 15, Japan Travel Bureau, Tokyo, 1953
• Ito K. and Beer A., Selected Supreme Court Decisions, New York. New York 1975
• "Japan," Compton's Encyclopedia 1992 edition, Vol 12, pp.23-82

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