MESSAGE FROM THE FACULTY DIRECTOR
In the 25–26 academic year, the Center for East Asian Legal Studies offered a rich variety of public events and engaged in exciting new collaborations. More than 220 participants in CEALS programs heard expert insights on topics ranging from the rights of the Ainu people and controlling shareholder rules in Japan to the U.S. legal strategies of Chinese firms and China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
CEALS was privileged to host two practice-oriented panels The first featured four distinguished Bay Area practitioners who shared insights on current legal and business challenges Chinese firms face in the U.S. market. For the second, CEALS welcomed five senior arbitrators with expertise in Asia to discuss growth and innovation in major Asian arbitral institutions
We collaborated with new institutional partners including California Arbitration, the Center for Business Law, and the Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution, and CEALS scholars traveled to Japan to celebrate the centennial of a longtime partner, the Daini Tokyo Bar Association Seven students produced scholarly papers in our Japanese Law course, and CEALS faculty and affiliates presented their research at conferences around the Pacific Rim.
I extend heartfelt thanks to our administrators, faculty, affiliated scholars, Advisory Board, speakers, alumni, and support staff for their many contributions to the life and success of the Center over the past year. Of special note, Advisory Board members Jenny Liu, Sally Harpole, and David Makman played indispensable roles in developing our public programs this year.
We hope you enjoy learning more about the Center’s work in this Annual Report, and we thank you for your continued support! You can always find Center news and updates, as well as a link to support our work, on the CEALS website
ABOUT THE CENTER
In 2015, Professors Setsuo Miyazawa and Keith Hand founded the East Asian Legal Studies Program at UC Law SF. In 2022, law school administrators granted the program new status as the Center for East Asian Legal Studies. The Center’s mission incorporates three closely related elements:
Building the law school into a leading Pacific Rim hub for interdisciplinary research and exchange on East Asian legal systems;
Advancing our understanding of the historic legal changes taking place across East Asia through in-depth faculty and student research, collaborations with leading scholarly and professional institutions, and a robust program of expert lectures and conferences for legal professionals in the Bay Area; and
Providing the next generation of law students with the training to understand East Asian legal systems and legal cultures; work effectively with clients and counterparts in the region; and take advantage of the growing opportunities for legal profe ice with an East Asia focus
UC Law SF
Setsuo Miyazawa Emeritus Senior Director Senior Professor
Keith Hand Director Professor of Law
UC Law SF
Hiroshi Fukurai Affiliated Scholar Professor UC Santa Cruz
Sally A. Harpole Affiliated Scholar International Arbitrator
David Makman Affiliated Scholar Adjunct Professor Attorney
Catherine Hu Student Fellow
Carrie (Shu) Shang Affiliated Scholar Professor Cal Poly Pomona
Midori Matsuura Student Fellow
25-26 PUBLIC EVENTS AND EXCHANGES
International Symposium on Rights and Reparations of the Ainu and Settler Colonialism
Speakers included Kunihiko Yoshida, Yunshan Professor of Law at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in China; Jo Carrillo, Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Indigenous Law Center at UC Law SF; and Natsu Taylor Saito, Regents’ Professor Emerita at Georgia State University’s College of Law (September 2025)
Chinese Companies in the U.S. Legal System
Ji Li, John S. and Marilyn Long Professor of U.S.-China Business and Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law (October 2025)
Controlling Shareholder Standards in Japan and the U.S.
Takumi Sato, Attorney in the Silicon Valley office of TMI Associates; Lauren M. Cruz, Senior Counsel, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP; and David Makman, CEALS Affiliated Scholar, UC Law SF, and Founder, Law Offices of David A Makman (October 2025)
Chinese Investment in the United States: Market Entry, Compliance, and Geopolitical Risk
Kevin Cao, Partner, K&L Gates; Darlene Chiu-Bryant, Executive Director of Global SF; Jenny Liu, Partner, Pillsbury; and Keliang (Clay) Zhu, Partner, DeHeng Law Offices. Co-sponsored by the Center for Business Law (February 2026).
Arbitration in Asia: Growth, Dynamism, and Innovation
Sally Harpole, CEALS Affiliated Scholar and International Arbitrator; Miriam Pereira, Counsel, Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners; Adriana Uson, Director & Head (Americas), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC); Meg Utterback, Partner, King & Wood Mallesons; and Patrick Zheng, Partner, Kingland Partners Co-sponsored by the Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (March 2026)
Bumps on China's Belt and Road
John Ohnesorge, George Young and Bascom Professor of Law and Director for East Asian Legal Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (April 2026)
CENTER NEWS
CEALS Emeritus Senior Director Setsuo Miyazawa, Associate Dean for Global Programs Binyamin Blum, and CEALS Affiliated Scholar David Makman represented UC Law SF at the Daini Tokyo Bar Association Centennial Celebration in Tokyo.
As a Board Member of California Arbitration, CEALS Affiliated Scholar Sally Harpole helped promote California International Arbitration Week, which brought arbitration experts from around the world to San Francisco in March 2026 She organized several participating arbitrators from Asia to share their expertise at UC Law SF.
Emeritus Senior Director Setsuo Miyazawa completed a multi-wave longitudinal study on the determinants and impacts of police-citizen contacts in Japan He presented findings from the study at the 2025 annual meetings of the Japanese Association of Sociological Criminology and the Asian Criminological Society.
CEALS invited alumna Jenny Liu and affiliated scholars Sally Harpole, David Makman, and Carrie (Shu) Shang to join a new Advisory Board. The Board provided invaluable guidance on events and outreach to the practice community.
CEALS Director Keith Hand presented research on the expansion of Chinese export controls on critical minerals and US -China legal competition at the New York University Asian Law Institute Workshop on Foreign-Related Rule of Law and at the Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting in Vancouver, B.C.
CEALS was honored to welcome Catherine Hu and Midori Matsuura as CEALS Student Fellows for the 25–26 academic year Among their many contributions, Catherine and Midori organized a panel of current UC Law SF students to share their experiences working in legal internships related to Asia.
As Secretary of the Association of American Law Schools Section on East Asian Law & Society, Director Keith Hand co-hosted a junior scholars workshop for rising Asian law scholars. In January 2026, he stepped into a new role as Chair-elect of the Section.
26–27 PREVIEW
In the 26–27 academic year, CEALS faculty will offer several Asia-related courses, including China and the International Legal Order, a writing seminar that explores Chinese approaches to international law and institutions, and International Business Transactions, an introduction to six cross-border transaction forms with substantial content on East Asia.
Emeritus Senior Director Setsuo Miyazawa will return to San Francisco to lead the thirteenth installment of the CEALS Symposium on Japanese Law in October 2026 This year ’ s symposium will focus on the opportunities and strategies of Japanese law firms in California.
CEALS will offer lunchtime programs on the experience of Chinese immigrants in the United States, Chinese legal exceptionalism, and many other topics
Keith Hand, Hiro Aragaki, Miriam Pereira, Meg Utterback, Sally Harpole, Adriana Uson, and Patrick Zheng at our March 2026 panel on Arbitration in Asia
Very Special Thanks To:
Chancellor and Dean David Faigman
Provost and Academic Dean Morris Ratner
Sally A. Harpole
Jenny Liu
David Makman
Catherine Hu and Midori Matsuura
Brittany Tinaliga
Donate to CEALS
Connect with CEALS: