일본민법의 발전동향

The Developing trend of Japanese Civil Law

Recently Japan is showing signs of economic recovery with the situation getting better. When looking back, there was the so-called loss of 10 years which refers to the long period of stagnation happened in the year of 1994. The specific reason lay in faulty bond problems of financial institutions and the decline of stock prices that began with the collapse of real estate bubble in 1990. According to international economic tendency that affected Japan all the while, the worldwide competition in the business field became intense with economic globalization and financial liberalization. For instance there was friction in trading matters especially in the relationship between the United States and Japan. In addition the complete opening of the domestic market accelerated the occurrence of political and economical issues. As the result, foreign businesses advanced into Japanese market covering the fields such as finance, manufacture, commerce and etc. Also in 1999, with the launching of the IT revolution, the Japanese government invested in IT industry and business with the purpose to restore the economy; thus making that sphere prosper. The situation in Japan after the year of 1990 made the need for a modernized civil law along with modern special law of civil affairs significant. Because those set of laws can possibly cope with the new economical and social system within the juridical sphere. Therefore such perception led to the enactment of the new special law of civil affairs and a struggle to reform the Civil Law. This article intends to observe the developing trend of the Japanese Civil law in association with the Korean Civil Law reform. Once the general view about the Japanese Civil Law reform and its aftermath is introduced, the modernization of Civil Code will be taken into consideration. Also revision of the law of obligation is alluded to after specifically observing the recently reformed contents of Japanese Civil Law emphasizing on cession of an obligation, security and guaranty.