Kei Konishi
Patent Attorney, Miyoshi & Miyoshi, Tokyo, Japan

Arbitration is a dispute submitted to one or more arbitrators, who make a non-appealable, binding decision on a dispute, as indicated by an arbitration agreement between the parties. The legal basis for arbitration in Japan was established by the Arbitration Act in 2003 (Law No. 138 of 2003.) and became effective in March, 2004. This replaced the existing Arbitration Act of 1890. Under the 2003 Arbitration Act, which is based on the UNCITRAL (i.e., United Nations Committee of International Trade Law) Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, the principle of party autonomy is set forth, and no discrimination is given between the domestic arbitration and international arbitration.