Corporate Governance Reforms in Japan: Instilling the New Regime

Abstract

This paper analyzes recent transformations in Japanese corporate governance within the context of the 2002 reform of the Japanese Commercial Code and the ensuing legislations. It is widely recognized that ongoing changes in Japanese corporate governance are aimed at incorporating key principles of Anglo-Saxon corporate law. However, this alone does not explain why, under the minimal role of market for corporate control and with predominantly insider-oriented boards, directors of Japanese stock-listed enterprises have become increasingly sensitive to indices reflecting their companies’ share value. The paper argues that this shift is caused by the newly emerging regime of veridiction. The latter, as the study indicates, is the normative discourse constituted on the basis of Japanese corporate governance enactments over the last two decades.