調和の声 'Chouwa No Koe' or Voices in Harmony : Improving Upon Current U.S.-Japan Alternative Dispute Resolution

Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) plays an invaluable role in the United States’ interactions with other sovereign states. The United States and Japan have long resolved their disputes through ADR: from disputes between private entities, to State-level trade disputes, and beyond. However, the history of ADR between the two countries has been fraught with problems stemming from legal and cultural arrangements that often cause as many difficulties as they solve. There is a need for improvement of the ADR process through harmonization of arbitration laws, increased reciprocity of judgment enforcement, and a willingness on the part of both countries to create and implement a more formalized ADR procedural framework to ensure greater continuity and consistency in the dispute resolution process. This Article identifies key problems and proposes solutions for improving the existing U.S.-Japanese ADR process through the creation of more consistent guidelines and practices as a subset of a general examination of worldwide ADR techniques