Japanese Ambassador Mikio Mori bestowed the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, upon Professor Frank K. Upham for significantly promoting the understanding of Japanese law in US academia and building networks among global legal communities. The award is one of the highest honors that the government of Japan confers upon foreign nationals.
Photo: Courtesy of Consulate-General of Japan in New York City
In his remarks at the award ceremony on September 10, Ambassador Mori noted, among other contributions, Professor Upham’s role in establishing a program at NYU Law for Japanese public interest lawyers a quarter century ago. Participants in the program currently have the status of visiting scholars at USALI. The ambassador also noted that Professor Upham’s 1989 book, Law and Social Change in Postwar Japan, became a standard reference for discussions of Japanese law and its social and political role in contemporary Japan. Said Mori: “He may understand the Japanese legal system more than most lawyers in Japan since he helped shape it!”
Photo by Katherine Wilhelm
Professor Upham responded that he considered Japan to be “the most successful society in the world” and that visiting there allowed him to combine “a sense of adventure with a deep sense of community.”
Professor Upham is USALI’s co-founder and faculty advisor. He graduated from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He joined the NYU Law faculty in 1994 after teaching at Ohio State, Harvard, and Boston College law schools. He spent considerable time at various institutions in Asia, including as a Japan Foundation Fellow and visiting scholar at Doshisha University in 1977 and a research fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science at Sophia University in 1986. For many years, Professor Upham taught first-year property law, law and development, and courses and seminars on comparative law and society. He currently co-teaches the USALI Colloquium on Globalization, International Law and East Asia.