Selected Materials on Japanese Taxation

A reading list of primary sources, books, and articles.

Primary sources

• Japanese Law Translation (updated regularly, Ministry of Justice)
• Corporation Tax Act and Income Tax Act (Sozei Shiryokan)
• Tax Conventions (Ministry of Finance)
• Judgments of the Supreme Court (search engine)

Treatise

• Hugh Ault et al., Comparative Income Taxation (5th edition, 2025, Wolters Kluwer)
• Hiromitsu Ishi, The Japanese Tax System (3rd edition, 2001 Oxford)
• Go Kawada, Guide to Japanese Taxes (2017, Zaikei Shoho Sha)
• John Huston, Toshio Miyatake, Griffith Way, and Vicki L. Beyer, Japanese International Taxation (Looseleaf, Juris Publishing)
• Masatami Otsuka, Ichiro Otsuka, and Eiichiro Nakatani, Tax Law in Japan (2nd edition, 2006, Kluwer Law International)

History

• Henry Shavell, Taxation Reform in Occupied Japan, 1 National Tax Journal 127 (1948)
• Report on Japanese Taxation by the Shoup Mission (1949)Link to the text
• Carl S. Shoup, The Tax Mission to Japan, 1949-50, in Malcolm Gillis ed., Tax Reform in Developing Countries 177 (1989, Duke)
• W. Elliot Brownlee, The Transfer of Tax Ideas during the 'Reverse Course' of the US Occupation in Japan, in Holger Nehring and Florian Shui ed., Global Debate about Taxation 158 (2007, Palgrave Macmillan)
• W. Elliot Brownlee, Eisaku Ide, and Yasunori Fukagai ed., The Political Economy of Transnational Tax Reform: the Shoup Mission to Japan in Historical Context (Cambridge University Press, 2013)
• W. Elliot Brownlee & Eisaku Ide, Stanley Surrey, the Shoup Mission, and Tax Administration in Japan, 86 Law and Contemporary Problems 89-105 (2023)

Political economy

• Junko Kato, The Problem of Bureaucratic Rationality: Tax Politics in Japan (1994, Princeton)
• J. Mark Ramseyer and Minoru Nakazato, Japanese Law: An Economic Approach (1999, Chicago)
• Hiroshi Kaneko, The Reform of the Japanese Tax System in the Latter Half of the Twentieth Century and into the Twenty-First Century, in Daniel H. Foote ed., Law in Japan: A Turning Point (2007, University of Washington Press) 564-582

Special journal issues covering Japan

• Bulletin for International Taxation (IFA 61st Congress Kyoto), Vol. 61, No. 9/10 (2007)
• Asia-Pacific Tax Bulletin Vol.13, No.5 (2007)
• Proceedings from the 2009 Sho Sato Conference on Tax Law, Social Policy, and the Economy
• International Fiscal Association's annual Cahier

Articles

• *Note* Merely illustrative. The list contains valuable works with my personal attachments.
• Torao Aoki, Double Taxation Conventions of Japan, Bulletin for International Fiscal Documentation, Vol.24, No.10, 435-442; No.12, 536-552 (1970)
• Torao Aoki, Recent Double Taxation Conventions of Japan, Bulletin for International Fiscal Documentation, Vol.25, No.10, 374-385 (1971)
• Tadatsune Mizuno, The Basic Concepts of International Taxation and Their Application to Japanese Law, 32 University of British Columbia Law Review 159 (1988)
• Vicki L. Beyer, The Legacy of the Shoup Mission: Taxation Inequities and Tax Reform in Japan, UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal, 10(2) (1992)
• Tadao Okamura, The Japanese Tax System: Due Process and the Taxpayer, 11 International Tax & Business Lawyer 125 (1993)
• Minoru Nakazato, Internationalization of Japan's International Tax Law, 35 The Japanese Annual of International Law 78 (1993)
• Setsuo Taniguchi, Grundzuege des japanischen Steuerrechts fuer den auslaendischen Investor, 5 IStR 209 (1995)
• Hideki Kanda, Taxes and the Structure of Japanese Firms: The Hidden Aspects of Income Taxation, 74 Wash. U. L. Q. 393 (1996)
• Klaus Vogel ed., Interpretation of Tax Law and Treaties and Transfer Pricing in Japan and Germany (1998, Kluwer)
• J. Mark Ramseyer and Eric Bennett Rasmusen, Why the Japanese Taxpayer Always Loses, Southern California Law Review, Vol. 72 (1999) 571-595.
• 2000s
• Hiroshi Kaneko, The Principle of Statute-based taxation in Japan, Paul Kirchhof et al. ed., Staaten und Steuern, Festschrift fuer Klaus Vogel zum 70. Geburtstag (C.F. Mueller, 2000) 807-826.
• Yo Ota, Tax Treatments for Distressed Bank Loans: A Comparative Study of the United States and Japanese Legal Systems, 10 Pacific Rim Law Policy Journal 543 (2001)
• Masatsugu Asakawa, The New Japan-US Tax Treaty, Asia-Pacific Tax Bulletin Vol.10, No.4 (2004) 205-209.
• Akiyuki Asatsuma, The Controlled Foreign Corporation Legislation, Asia-Pacific Tax Bulletin, Vol.11, No.3 (2005) 363-371.
• Yutaka Kitamura, The Application of Japan-U.S. Tax Treaty to Trusts, Tax notes international, Feb.13, 2006, 578-588.
• Yasuyuki Kawabata, Implications in the major economies of the Pacific Rim: Taxation of nonresidents and foreign corporations from the Japanese perspective, in Andrea Amatucci ed., International Tax Law 223 (2006, Kluwer)
• Toshiyuki Uemura, An Estimation of Tax Expenditure in Japanese Income Tax from the Viewpoint of the Fiscal Transparency, Government Auditing Review, Vol.16 (2009) 3
• 2010s
• Akiyuki Asatsuma, Japan, in Guglielmo Maisto ed., Residence of Individuals under Tax Treaties and EC Law, 433 (2010)
• Kenichi Nishikata and Azusa Oizuki, An Overview of the Government Tax Expert Committee's Policy Advisory Note, Asia-Pacific Tax Bulletin, Vol.17, No.2, 214 (2011)
• Konosuke Kimura, The Commentary of the OECD Model Tax Convention as Two-Tiers Soft Law: Rule of Conduct for Tax Authorities and Living Law for Taxpayers, in Andrea Amatucci ed., International Tax Law 237 (2012, 2nd edition, Kluwer)
• Koichiro Yoshimura, Clarifying the Meaning of 'Beneficial Owner' in Tax Treaties, Tax notes international, Nov.25, 2013, 761-782
• Naoki Oka, International Taxation in Japan: Revised Transfer Pricing Guidelines by the National Tax Agency, International Transfer Pricing Journal, MARCH/APRIL 2014, 99
• Yuki Nishida, Japan Consumption Tax on Cross-Border Supplies of Services, International VAT Monitor Issue No.4 (2015) 221-225.
• MCELWAIN, Kenneth Mori and NOBLE, Gregory W., Who tolerates tax increases? Age and gender in the raising of Japanese consumption taxes, Journal of Social Science Vol.67, No.2 (2016)
• Takashi Imamura and Mitsuhiro Honda, Japan's Supreme Court Classifies a US Delaware Limited Partnership as a Corporation, Bulletin for International Taxation, Vol.70, No.3 (2016) 138-141.
• Makoto Hasegawa and Kozo Kiyota, The effect of moving to a territorial tax system on profit repatriation: Evidence from Japan, Journal of Public Economics, Vol.153 (2017) 92-110.
• Toru Morotomi, Japan’s Shift to Territoriality in 2009 and the Recent Corporate Tax Reform: A Japan-United States Comparison of Taxing Income from Multinationals, Pittsburg Tax Review Vol.14, No.2 (2017) 173-217.
• Takayuki Nagato, A General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) and the Rule of Law in Japan, Public Policy Review, Vol.13, No.1 (2017) 35-70.
• Toshio Miyatake, Tax Treaty Disputes in Japan, in E. Baistrocchi ed., A Global Analysis of Tax Treaty Disputes Vol.1 (2017) 437-469.
• Tax System Reform: Evidence-Based Policy Recommendations, Public Policy Review, March 2018, Vol. 14 No. 2
• Tsutomu Endo, Japan: The Procedural Requirements for Applying a Treaty and Determination of a Permanent Establishment for an Online Sales Business, in Lang et al. ed, Tax Treaty Case Law around the Globe 2017 (Linde, 2018) 45-52.
• Atsushi Onishi, Arbitration Provisions in Japanese Tax Treaties: Reasoning Behind the Introduction of Arbitration and Types of Provisions Used, in Majdanska/Turcan ed., OECD Arbitration in Tax Treaty Law (Linde, 2018) 401-423.
• Masato Ohno, The Adoption of BEPS in Japan, in Kerrie Sadiq et al. ed., Tax Design and Administration in a Post-BEPS Era: A Study of Key Reform Measures in 18 Jurisdictions (Fiscal Publications, 2019) 145-159.
• Ryo Izawa, Who, me? Tax Planning and Japanese Multinational Enterprises: 1887-2019, Working Paper Series No.291, Faculty of Economics, Shiga University (2019)
• 2020s
• Mayuko Nakamura, Japan, in IFA, Restructuring the Treaty Network, Cahier de droit fiscal international, Vol.105A, 459-476 (2020)
• Keigo Fuchi, Stanley Surrey and the Transformation of Administrative Law in Japan, University of Pennsylvania Asian Law Review, Vol. 15, No.2, 172 (2020)
• Mari Takahashi, Implementing the Multilateral Instrument in Japan, in Michael Lang et al. ed., The Implementation and Lasting Effects of the Multilateral Instrument 611-632 (IBFD, 2021)
• Digital Economy and New Trends in Taxation, Public Policy Review Vol.17, No.1 (2021)
• Mari Takahashi, Japan’s Study on International Taxation in the Digital Economy: Fairness in Taxation, Trade and Competition, International Transfer Pricing Journal, Vol.29, No.2, 120 (2022)
• Economic Analysis of Taxes and Transfers, Public Policy Review Vol.19, No.4 (2023)
• Takeshi Fujitani, Japan [Environmental tax], ICCLP Publications No.16, pp.176-189, JAPANESE REPORTS FOR THE XXIst INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF COMPARATIVE LAW (Asuncion, 23 - 28 October 2022)
• Elliot Brownlee and Eisaku Ide, Stanley Surrey, the Schoup Mission, and the Tax Administration in Japan, 86 Law and Contemporary Problems 89 (2023).
• Takayuki Nagato, Pillar 2 as a De Facto New Revenue Allocation Mechanism, Tax notes international, Volume 112, October 2, 2023, 23-37
• Yumi Nishiyama and Richard Krever, The Digital Economy Challenges to the Japanese Consumption Tax, in: Yan Xu ed., VAT in the Digital Era (Oxford University Press, 2023)
• Takayuki Nagato, Designing a Tax System that Encourages Innovation in Start-ups, Public Policy Review, Vol.20, No.1, 1-33, February 2024
• Takato Masuda, The Compatibility of the UTPR and Japan’s Tax Treaties, Tax Notes International, Vol.114, May 20, 2024, 1127-1145
• Takato Masuda, Japan Introduced Full VAT Liability Regime to Digital Platforms, International VAT Monitor Vol.35, No.3, 104-108 (2024)
• Satoru Araki, Japan’s New Consumption Tax Regime on Digital Platforms and Global Developments, TAX NOTES INTERNATIONAL, VOLUME 116, OCT 28, 2024, 539.
• Atsushi Onishi, Crypto Assets: Tax Law and Policy in Japan, in Georg Kofler et al. ed., Crypto Assets: Tax Law and Policy 545-564 (IBFD 2024)
• Masatsugu Nakajima and Hiroshi Tsue, Tax Reform Regarding Tokenized Corporate Bonds in Japan, Issue: Finance and Capital Markets (formerly Derivatives & Financial Instruments), 2024 (Volume 25), No. 4, Published online: 11 December 2024, https://doi.org/10.59403/3qhbzcm
• Tax Compliance and Tax Administration in the 21st Century: In Light of International Discussions on Tax Enforcement, Public Policy Review Vol.21, No.1 (2025)
• Nagato Takayuki, Unilateral Tax Policy for Attracting High-skilled Individuals in a Globalized Economy, in Blueprint for Individual Income Taxation Reform in a Globalized World 159 (IBFD 2025)
• Takashi Miyachi et al., Fiscal resilience and equity: Analyzing Japan's tax strategy for post-disaster reconstruction, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 118 (2025) 105228.
• Satoru Araki, The Discretionary Grant of Tax Treaty Benefits in Japan, TAX NOTES INTERNATIONAL, VOLUME 118, MAY 5, 2025, 639.
• Satoru Araki, Japan’s New Undertaxed Profits Rule and Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax: Multinational Enterprise Perspective, TAX NOTES INTERNATIONAL, VOLUME 120, OCTOBER 13, 2025, 263.