‘JAPANESE LAW ALLOWS NOT ONLY COMMERCIAL DISPUTES BUT ALSO LABOUR DISPUTES TO BE RESOLVED BY ARBITRAL TRIBUNALS’ Interview with Akira Kawamura DOI: 10.17803/2313-5395.2015.2.4.374-375 Kavamura Akira: President of the International Bar Association in 2012 and the current President of the Japan Association of Arbitrators, Certifi ed Arbitration Judge CITAC and P.R.I.M.E. Finance. <...> He is a Counsellor of the Japanese Society of International Law, Auditor of the Japanese Association of International Law, member of the Ethics Committee of the Japanese Association for Cancer Prevention, as well as a member of the Ethics Committee of the International Association of Athletes’ Federation. <...> He is also a corporate auditor and member of the Board of Directors of a number of Japanese companies, including McDonald’s Holding Company (Japan). <...> He is an experienced arbitration judge and mediator. <...> In 2012 he was awarded with the order of the Rising Sun by his Majesty the Emperor of Japan. — Mr Kavamura, how often are foreign arbitrators involved in the resolution of disputes in the international commercial arbitration court of Japan? — Actually the Japanese rules assure foreign parties to nominate foreign arbitrators and many foreign arbitrators and arbitration lawyers are very active in Japan. <...> When resolving the disputes with foreign involvement, the parties may choose from the list, or else, an arbitrator with the same citizenship as the parties involved in the dispute, as in such cases it is important to be wellwww.kulawr.ru Volume 2 October 2015 Issue 2(4) Interview with Akira Kawamura: ‘Japanese law allows not only commercial disputes but also labour disputes to be resolved by arbitral tribunals’ 375 versed in national legislation. <...> Any foreign language may be chosen as a governing language by agreements among the parties. — How are transnational regulations – lex mercatoria and soft law – applied within the practice of international commercial arbitration? <...> The doctrines of general justice, including lex mercatoria, are applied by the discretion of the arbitrators within the frame work of the applicable confl ict of laws rules. <...> Is it possible for labour disputes to be resolved by the international commercial arbitration of Japan? — Yes, it is possible if it is agreed among the parties for each of the specific dispute. <...> Japanese law allows <...>