Course description
Cities are physically shaped by real estate. To make development of real estate is a big deal which needs many contracts to acquire or rent land, hire people to do construction, lend money to realize such deal, and so on. The rights to dominate or use or finance the real estate could have good value and could be merchantable everywhere in the world. In the globalized economy, such deals are sometimes done world-wide scale. Even the domestic transaction has been changing influenced from the world-wide transactional techniques. In this course students will explore such development of transactional techniques from the perspective legal framework.

Looking at the instructor’s homeland Japan, the global investment market accepting the American legal idea directly come across Japan’s real estate market. The new world’s legal idea has common law tradition which is different not only from the Eastern tradition but from the civil law tradition shared with majority of EU countries. These experiences were followed by majority of Eastern countries including China. Students will learn the perspective to measure the globalization of the city comparing the different legal systems.

Whether or not people should welcome the globalization of real estate transactions and markets is a difficult question. There are many aspects to judge and answer to this question. Japan is one of countries that have experienced to grope for better balance between accepting globalization and keeping local tradition. Students will learn the factors that could affect this decision.

One unit is composed of a couple of meetings. In each unit, students will read and compare two cases that the instructor choses before the meeting. One is a Japanese case and the other is American case addressing the same legal issue in a similar transaction. At the first meeting students will discuss the difference and possible reasons of the difference. Then students will prepare for presentations to pick up a case in their home countries. The instructor will help to find such cases. At the final meeting, students will make their presentations and discuss to the merit and demerit of the globalization on the topic.

We will have the following units: Requirement of instruments to manifest of intention; Mortgages and recordation; Securitization of Mortgages; Protection of aesthetic sight; Control of dense of the city, and so on.

Learning outcomes
(1) Students will understand which social factors can harmonize the globalization and which cannot.
(2) Students will analyze the merit and demerit of the globalization of the legal system for the real estate transactions.
(3) Students will become able to explain their homelands’ law to be applied to real estate transactions in a globalized market in ENGLISH, crossing the border between Common law tradition and CIVIL LAW tradition, learning from the long experience of Japanese Legal Discussion.
(4) Students will understand Japanese Law on Real Estate Transactions, applying the statutory provisions of Japanese CIVIL CODE and case laws in Japan correctly.

Evaluation methods
50% presentations
50％ class presentations and discussion

Bibliography
-The instructor will give students handouts with Japanese cases translated into English by the instructor.
- AMNON LEHAVI, PROPERTY LAW IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD (GLOBAL LAW SERIES) (2019)
- SJEF VAN ERP ET AL., CASES, MATERIALS AND TEXT ON PROPERTY LAW (IUS COMMUNE CASEBOOKS FOR THE COMMON LAW OF EUROPE) (2012)
- Property and Real Rights, 1 DOING BUSINESS IN JAPAN ¶7　(ZENTARO KITAGAWA ED. 2004)

Schedule
[Introductory Session] – Zoom

Topic 1 The Idea of `Property Right`
[Section 1-a] the West (Lecture) - Moodle
[Section 1-b] the East (Lecture) - Moodle
[Section 1-c] Workshop & Discussion – Moodle & Zoom

We will complete each topic as following:
-We will complete each [Section] per each class hour. [Section a] and [Section b] will be “on-demand” contents on Moodle, that students have to complete within a definite period of time. Contents are composed of “Pre-Assessment” (> Students should answer questions in each content, reading book chapters listed in “Reading Assignments” and additional materials I upload via Moodle.), “Lecture-movie” and “Review Forum” (> Students must write down questions and comments on the class. Also students should put comments each other). [Section c] will be composed of “on-demand” movie-presentations uploaded by students and “real time” discussions via Zoom.
-Students will learn general idea of each Topic (e.g. “property right” on Topic 1), at [Section a]. Students will learn considerable difference between civil law countries and common law countries, even within the West.
-Students will learn the variations of the idea of the Topic (e.g. “Property Rights” on Topic 1) in the East Asia at [Section b]. Countries in the West have mostly imported Western idea concerning legal topics. Identifying the root of the legal system (Common Law or Civil Law) helps students to understand the variations in the East. However, Roots are not everything. Tradition and cultures of the transactions in the
-Students will introduce their home country’s legal situation each other, answering to my questions, via “presentation movie”, at [Section c].

Description
We will explore the basic idea of “Property” and “Property Rights”. Lawyers distinguish the objects of legal rights from the legal rights themselves. However, the common sense of the real property as objects in the society could be one of the important elements to define the idea of property right. Students will learn the most fundamental idea concerning this area of law.

Assignments
-Reading Assignment: SJEF VAN ERP & BRAM AKKERMANS ED., PROPERTY LAW (2012) [hereinafter VAN ERP], pp 37-95
-Pre-Assessment: Answer a set of questions on the Moodle before [Section a] and [Section b].
-Presentation: Make and upload your presentation movie (narrated power point slides) on Moodle for [Section C].

Topic 2 `Property Right`on Real Property (1): Legal Right to fully dominate the land: Ownership v. Estate
[Section 2-a] the West (Lecture)
[Section 2-b] the East (Lecture)
[Section 2-c] Workshop & Discussion

Description
We will focus on the “full” legal right to dominate the real property. We will compare the ideas of ownership of land and estate of land, to understand the basic legal idea to dominate the land. Also, we will focus on the remedies that the “full” property right holders can rely on if the property rights are injured.

Assignments
-Reading Assignment: VAN ERP, pp 131-161, 162-193, 212-226, 302-315
-Pre-Assessment: Answer a set of questions on the Moodle before [Section a] and [Section b].
-Presentation: Make and upload your presentation movie (narrated power point slides) on Moodle for [Section C].

Topic 3 `Property Right`on Real Property (3): Right to possess/use the land, other than “full” Ownership/Estate
[Section 3-a] the West (Lecture)
[Section 3-b] the East (Lecture)
[Section 3-c] Workshop & Discussion

Description
We will explore other types of property rights than those of “full” domination of the real property. We will focus on lease and easements here. Also we will explore remedies for anybody who legally possesses the real property, even without “full” property rights.

Assignments
-Reading: VAN ERP, 99-131, 243-294, 315-346
-Pre-Assessment: Answer a set of questions on the Moodle before [Section a] and [Section b].
-Presentation: Make and upload your presentation movie (narrated power point slides) on Moodle for [Section C].

Topic 4 Transfer of the full “Property Right”
[Section 4-a] the West (Lecture)
[Section 4-b] the East (Lecture)
[Section 4-c] Workshop & Discussion

Description
We will explore legal steps to transfer the property rights as you can observe in the sales of land transactions.

Assignments
-VAN ERP, pp 844-900
-Pre-Assessment: Answer a set of questions on the Moodle before [Section a] and [Section b].
-Presentation: Make and upload your presentation movie (narrated power point slides) on Moodle for [Section c].

Topic 5 Mortgages
[Section 5-a] the West (Lecture)
[Section 5-b] the East (Lecture)
[Section 5-c] Workshop & Discussion

Description
We will explore the basic idea of Mortgages. Mortgages have introduced globalization into the field of Real Estate law and transactions, which was fairly domestic all over the world. The basics is something traditional idea which is still domestic. But students need to understand this basic to find how mortgages has been developed in the global market.

Assignments
-VAN ERP, pp 906-909; pp 844-902
-Pre-Assessment: Answer a set of questions on the Moodle before [Section a] and [Section b].
-Presentation: Make and upload your presentation movie (narrated power point slides) on Moodle for [Section c].

Topic 6 Assignment of Mortgages
[Section 6-a] the West (Lecture)
[Section 6-b] the East (Lecture)
[Section 6-c] Workshop & Discussion

Description
We will explore the legal techniques and purposes to assign the mortgages. Students will learn the legal framework to make mortgage market international.

Assignment
-VAN ERP, pp 365-423
-Pre-Assessment: Answer a set of questions on the Moodle before [Section a] and [Section b].
-Presentation: Make and upload your presentation movie (narrated power point slides) on Moodle for [Section c].

Topic 7 Globalization and Market
[Section 7-a] the West (Lecture)
[Section 7-b] the East (Lecture)
[Section 7-c] Workshop & Discussion

Description
We will explore the mortgage market inside and outside each country.

Assignment
-AMNON LEHAVI, PROPERTY LAW IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD (2019) (hereinafter LEHAVI) pp 91-125
-Pre-Assessment: Answer a set of questions on the Moodle before [Section a] and [Section b].
-Presentation: Make and upload your presentation movie (narrated power point slides) on Moodle for [Section c].

Topic 8 Globalization and Secured Transactions with Real Property
[Section 8-a] the West (Lecture)
[Section 8-b] the East (Lecture)
[Section 8-c] Workshop & Discussion

Description
We will explore how and to what extent the real estate law has been and should be globalized, observing the Secured Transaction Law, which is the typical transactions which cause globalization.

Assignment
LEHAVI, pp 217-274; VAN ERP, pp 1047-1053
-Pre-Assessment: Answer a set of questions on the Moodle before [Section a] and [Section b].
-Presentation: Make and upload your presentation movie (narrated power point slides) on Moodle for [Section c]