Originially from: World Arbitration and Mediation Review (WAMR)

Japanese arbitration has a flavor of compromise: the word for arbitration is chusai, which means, literally, “to decide in the middle.” Arbitration in thetechnical sense is a product of the legal modernization and Westernization of the Meiji era; the arbitration system was established by the first enactment of the Code of Civil Procedure of 1890. Nevertheless, arbitration has not been widely practiced in Japan.
The 1890 Code provides that an arbitration agreement can be concluded as to matters within the scope of party autonomy—typically contractual relations. An arbitral award is given the same effect as a final court decision; it can be enforced by an execution judgment after being reviewed by the court.
Attitude of the Courts
The attitude of the Japanese courts to arbitration, and especially international arbitration, is favorable. We have found no case in which a Japanese court has refused enforcement of a foreign arbitral award; although the judicial decisions on foreign awards are few.
Japan is a signatory to several multilateral conventions on recognition and enforcement of international arbitration agreements and foreign arbitral awards. These are the Geneva Protocol of 1923; the Geneva Convention of 1927; the New York Convention of 1958; and the Washington Convention(ICSID Convention) of 1965. Japan is also a party to a number of bilateral treaties that provide for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, such as the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation entered into in 1953.