N.Z. lawyer in Japan finds contrasts

Press, 3 February 1986, Page 14

N.Z. lawyer in Japan finds contrasts

NZJN Tokyo A New Zealand lawyer in Tokyo says the different approach to law in Japan is a headache, and the dedication of some Japanese lawyers to rugby is chilling. Mr Peter Lawson, of Otago, has spent the last year working at Tokyo as a legal consultant to Ricoh, Japan’s biggest photocopier company. He has learned a lot about how social controls influence Japanese legal processes, unlike in the West, where precise meanings and definitions are what count.

In writing contracts, for instance, Mr Lawson found one of the most difficult tasks was finding what Japanese wanted to say.

“I have to keep asking them what they want in the contract and they tell me first to consider the relationship between ‘A’ and 'B’ ” he said. "Often I’ll write a contract and they bring it back saying it is too specific, can’t I make it a big more vague.” Mr Lawson, aged 27, applied for the job in Britain, where he was doing a masters course at

Cambridge University, after taking a masters degree in law at Otago University. The job arose after Ricoh decided to extend its international links. The company policy is now to employ two foreigners every two to three years, though Mr Lawson believes the company needs about 30. Mr Lawson also has to smooth communications between Ricoh’s Japanese lawyers and their United States counterparts. This requires explaining to each side the different concepts of law applicable in the business deal. Mr Lawson and Ricoh’s other in-house foreigner, a Briton who is an Oxford graduate, were virtually coerced into playing rugby for the company team — an unforgettable experience.

“We would train six nights a week, with every training session exactly the same,” he said. “One week we had to play against another company team on the Sunday and had to take the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off to train. I didn’t get anything done all week.” Mr Lawson describes

the attitude and “fighting spirit” of the players as unique.

“I couldn’t believe it You would get this guy coming to practice with a broken arm in a cast and he was trying to do onearm press-ups. Another guy had had a neck injury for four months and would come to the practice sessions with his neck in a neck brace and try to run.”

Mr Lawson and his colleague quit the rugby but could not escape, the team’s absolute dedication, which flowed into the workplace. The spirit was “very militaristic,” he said, shuddering. “Everyone has their role and place within the company hierarchy. This is reflected even in where your desk is positioned in relation to the head of your section.” Nearly all offices in Japan are open-plan with groups of workers under a Section Chief sitting together.

The company day begins at 8.30 a.m. with singing of the company song. On Monday mornings there is a division meeting which the staff take in turn to chair and

which Mr Lawson describes as a time when the key topic of conversation seems to be market share. He is expected to spend a lot of time with his section colleagues; having lunch with them is almost obligatory. Staff usually stay in the office until 7.30 p.m. Being a foreign lawyer in Japan presents other contrasts as well. In New Zealand, for instance, work is usually, charged on six-minute segments and lawyers constantly work to the clock. But in Japan, Mr Lawson said he might be in the middle of writing a contract when the section chief interrupts to ask the meaning of an obscure English proverb.

He felt he would always be an outsider in their eyes. He was always treated differently. “Once you accept this fact it makes it a lot easier to cope with things,” he said.

Legally, foreign lawyers are outcast. Companies can hire them as consultants, but they are banned from practising law. —Copyright N.Z. Japan News.