In March, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Lena Foljanty held a seminar at the Faculty of Law of Keiô University in Tokyo. The seminar explored the possibilities and challenges of comparative methods in both legal history and contemporary law. The seminar was itself organized comparatively: together with master's students, doctoral candidates, and colleagues from the faculty, she discussed to what extent comparison as a method holds different significance in European and Japanese legal discourse, and what conclusions can be drawn from this.

Under the pressure of Westernization, Japanese law has developed in constant comparison with European and U.S. law since the Meiji Restoration in 1868. To this day, comparative law remains a key discipline in Japanese legal scholarship. Keiô University, one of the country's oldest universities, played a central role in this development and is now one of Japan’s leading private universities.