Shin MATSUZAWA

• Position: Professor (Faculty of Law, Waseda University)
• Degree: MA in Law, Waseda University; Ph.D., Rikkyo University
• Background:
  Visiting Researcher, Uppsala University (2014 – 2015)
  Visiting Researcher, Stockholm University (2013 – 2014)
  Visiting Researcher, University of Copenhagen (1996 – 2002)

Field of Specialization / Research Theme / Research Projects

Criminal Law / Philosophy of Criminal Law / Penal Theory / Empirical Criminal Justice Studies

[Research Grants]

• An Empirical Study of the Foundations of Penal Policy and the Structure of Public Opinion: Conditions Under Which Rational Public Judgment Emerges (Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research) 2024 – 2026

Major Works/ Publications

[Books]

• Shin Matsuzawa, Essays on Criminal Law in Japan (Institute of Comparative Law, Waseda University, 2024)
• Shin Matsuzawa, Anne Weyembergh, Irene Wieczorek eds., Europe and Japan Cooperation in the Fight against Cross-border Crime: Challenges and Perspectives (Routledge, 2022)
• Shin Matsuzawa, Kimmo Nuotio eds., Methodology of Criminal Law Theory: Art, Politics or Science? (Nomos/Hart, 2021)

[Articles]

• Shin Matsuzawa and Ziqing Ruan, The Impact of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights on Corporate Crime Control in Japan and China, in Multinationals and Human Rights in Asia (Jason Ho Ching Cheung, Kazuaki Nishioka, eds.) (Hart Publishing 2026)
• Shin Matsuzawa, Valid Law” Methodology: How can we make criminal law dogmatics objective?, LAW’S EMPIRICS (2023)
• Shin Matsuzawa and Hideyo Matsubara, The Public Sense of Justice in Japan: Can Public Opinion Define Sentencing Standards?, Waseda Institute of Comparative Law Online Journal 1 (2021)

Academic Societies/ Service to Society

Academic Societies

• Board Member, Criminal Law Society of Japan

Service to Society

• Program Officer, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)

Web Page / Researcher DB / Course List

[Waseda University Researchers Database]
Details of a Researcher – MATSUZAWA, Shin

Message to Prospective Students

I am a professor of criminal law, with a special interest in the social function of criminal law. My research has addressed topics such as criminal law methodology, theories of criminal responsibility, document forgery, complicity, and moral luck. Recently, I have been exploring the problem of moral luck, examining how chance influences criminal responsibility and how this can be understood within legal theory. I also conduct socio-legal surveys on public attitudes toward punishment, seeking to connect criminal law with the ways people actually experience justice in society.
I studied law at Waseda University and later spent an extended period at the University of Copenhagen, where I researched Scandinavian criminal law and systems of lay participation in criminal trials. This experience, just before Japan introduced its lay judge system, deepened my awareness of the importance of comparative perspectives in understanding how criminal law functions within different societies.
At Waseda, I mainly teach criminal law to undergraduate students and have also been involved in the LLM program since its beginning. In my classes, I encourage students to think critically and to see criminal law not as a set of abstract rules, but as a living institution that shapes and reflects social values. Japanese criminal law is strongly influenced by German law, while Japanese criminal procedure shows a strong American influence. This unique combination makes Japan’s criminal justice system especially interesting, and I look forward to exploring its strengths and challenges together with my students.