Shigenori Matsui

Professor Shigenori Matsui joined the Allard School of Law in January 2006 as Director of Japanese Legal Studies. Professor Matsui comes to UBC from Osaka University Law School where he worked as associate professor from April 1983 to March 1994; and as full professor from April 1994 to December 2005.  He worked for Osaka University, Faculty of Law, until he joined the newly established law school in 2004. He taught courses in Constitutional Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, Mass Media Law, Freedom of Information Law, and Internet Law.  He also served as an Osaka University Council member from April 2003-March 2004 and served as associate dean for the law school from April 2004 to December 2005.

Professor Matsui also served for the Japanese Government as a member of the National Freedom of Information Board, and as an examiner for the National Bar Examination Commission (Constitutional Law) as well as serving on a number of boards for Osaka Prefecture and numerous municipalities. 

An internationally-renowned expert in the fields of Constitutional Law, Mass Media Law and Internet Law, he has been a visiting scholar at the University of California, University College London, the University of Washington, the University of Western Australia and here at the University of British Columbia (1990-91).

Personal website: http://www.shgmatsui.com/

• Japanese Law
• Introduction to Asian Legal System
• Topics in Law and Technology: Law of Cyberspace
• Topics in Comparative Law: Comparative Law
• Topics in Public Law: Freedom of Expression
• Topics in Comparative Law: Comparative Constitutional Law

• Shigenori Matsui, Pandemic: COVID-19 and the Public Health Emergency, (2021) 38:2 Arizona J. Int’l & Comp. L. 142-200.
• “Judicial Review of Restrictions on Constitutional Rights in Japan” in Po Jen Yap, ed., Proportionality in Asia Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 140-168
• The Role of the Central Government and Local Government in Times of Crisis: Japan’s Experience after the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster, Central-Local Relations in Asian Constitutional Systems, edited by Andrew Harding and Mark Sidel, Oxford: Hart Publishing 2015, p125-149
• The Criminalization of Revenge Porn in Japan, in 24 Washington International Law Journal p289-317 (2015)
• Don’t You Want to Watch Television Programs Aired in Your Country While You Are Abroad?: Broadcasting, Reproduction, Public Transmission and Copyright, in 2015 University of Illinois Journal of Law, Technology & Policy p1-38 (2015)
• "Cloudy Weather, With Occasional Sunshine: Consumer Loans, the Legislature, and the Supreme Court of Japan," 22 Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal 555 (2013)
• "Turbulence Ahead: The Future of Law Schools in Japan," 62 Journal of Legal Education 3 (2012)
• "Why Is the Japanese Supreme Court So Conservative?" 88 Washington U. Law Review 1375 (2011)
• "Constitutional Precedents in Japan: A Comment on the Role of Precedent," 88 Washington U. L. Rev. 1669 (2011)
• "Justice for the Accused or Justice for Victims?: The Protection of Victims' Rights in Japan," 13 Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal 54 (2011)
• "The Constitution of Japan: A Contextual Analysis," (Hart Publishing 2011)
• "Intellectual Property High Court of Japan," New Courts in Asia 83 (Andrew Harding & Penelope Nicholson eds. Routledge 2010)
• "The Constitution and the Family in Japan," in Japanese Family Law in Comparative Perspective (Harry N. Scheiber & Laurent Mayali eds. The Robbins Collection 2009)
• "The Voting Rights of Japanese Citizens Living Abroad, " 5 Int. J Constitutional Law 332 (2007)
• "The Protection of Fundamental Human Rights in Japan," in Human Rights in Asia: A Comparative Legal Study of Twelve Asian Jurisdictions, France and the USA 121 (Randall Peerenboom, Carole J. Petersen & Albert H.Y Chen eds. Routledge 2006).
• "Protecting Economic Liberties in a Country Governed by Bureaucrats", Law and Technology in the Pacific Communities (Philip S.C. Lewis ed. Westview, 1994).
• "Japan: The Supreme Court and the Separation of Church and State", 2 International Journal of Constitutional Law 534 (2004).
• "Freedom of Expression in Japan", 38 Osaka University Law Review 13 (1991)
• "The Reapportionment Cases in Japan: Constitutional Law, Politics, and the Japanese Supreme Court", 33 Osaka University Law Review 17 (1986).

Publications listed on the Allard Research Portal.