Education

Career

Publications

• Japan’s Territory under International Law (2024, Brill), Co-Editor and Contributor (Chapter 5 and Conclusion)
• National Editor for Japan in Encyclopedia of Public International Law in Asia, Brill (2021)

* For principal publications in Japanese, please see the Japanese Pages

Papers

• ”The Houthi Rebels’ Attack against Japan-Related Vessel in the Red Sea: An Idea of ‘the Right to Protect Uses of Sea’”

• “Effective Implementation of the Stockholm Declaration and the London Convention Regime on Dumping: Dynamically Incorporating the Development of the Concept of Environment in the Twenty-First Century into the LOSC,” The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law Vol. 39 (2024) 464–474.

• ”Japan’s Request of Extradition of the Founder of Sea Shepherd: Recovery and Maintenance of the Common Interests of International Society and the Inherent Interests of Japan, a Sovereign State”

• ”Applicability of Precautionary Principle Reconsidered”

• ”Double Aspects of Being a Sovereign State: Positive and Passive Aspects”

• ”Significance of the BBNJ Agreement from the Perspective of the Historical Development of the Law of the Sea”

• ”How To Ensure The Safety Of The Japan Coast Guard While Maintaining Its Nature As A Police Organ When It Conducts Missions In Collaboration With The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force Under The Control Guidelines,” Japan Review,Vol.6, No.2 (2024), pp.47-79
• ”Japan's Discharge of ALPS Treated Water Containing Tritium,” Japanese Yearbook of International Law, Vol.66（2023）, pp. 413-434
• ”Reconsideration of the Distinction Between the Use of Arms in Law Enforcement and the Use of Force Prohibited by International Law - With an Analysis of the Inherent Significance of This Issue to Japan-,” Japan Review, Vol. 5 (2023), JapanReview_Vol5_02_ Kanehara.pdf (jiia-jic.jp).
• ”The Impact on Japan’s Coast Guard and Maritime Security Caused by China’s Coast Guard Law of 2021,” Japanese Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 65 (2022), The Japanese Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 65 (2022), pp. 320-335.
• ”Refining Japan’s Integrative Position on the Territorial Sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands,” International Law Studies, Vol. 97 (2021),"Refining Japan’s Position on the Senkaku Islands" by Atsuko Kanehara (usnwc.edu)
• ”Covid-19 and the Law of the Sea: Japan’s Port State Jurisdiction in Relation to the Diamond Princess,” Japanese Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 64 (2021), pp. 233-245.
• ”Interplay between the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Other International Law for Building a Comprehensive International Maritime Order,” Japanese Yearbook of International Law Vol. 63 (2020), pp. 52-92.
• ”International Law as a Tool to Combat China,” Japan Review, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2020), 04JapanReview_4-1_summer_Kanehara.pdf (jiia-jic.jp).
• ”Japan’s Withdrawal from the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling,” Japanese Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 62 (2019), pp, 376-387.
• ”The Reassessment of Acts of the State in the Law of State Responsibility - A Proposal of an Integrative Theoretical Framework of the Law of State Responsibility to Effectively Cope with Internationally harmful acts of Non-State Actors,” Recueil des cours, Vol. 399, (2019), pp. 19-266.
• ”The Use of Force in Maritime Security and the Use of Arms in Law Enforcement under the Current Wide Understanding of Maritime Security,” Japan Review, Vol. 3, No. 2 (2019), JapanReview_Vol3_No2_05_Kanehara.pdf (jiia-jic.jp).
• ”Contribution by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to the International Legal Order of the Oceans,” Sophia Law Review [Jochi Hogaku Ronshu], Vol. 61, No. 3/4, (2018), pp. 9-56.
• ”Validity of International Law over Historic Rights: The Arbitral Award (Merits) on the South China Sea Dispute,” Sophia Law Review [Jochi Hogaku Ronshu], Vol. 61, No. 1/2, (2017), pp. 27-76.
• “What Does a New International Legally Binding Instrument on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction ‘under the UNCLOS’ Mean?”, Sophia Law Review [Jochi Hogaku Ronshu], Vol. 59, No. 4, (2016), pp. 53-73.
• “So-called 'Eco-piracy' and Interventions by NGOs to Protect against Scientific Research Whaling on the High Seas: An Evaluation of Japanese Position,” in C. R. Symmons ed., Selected Contemporary Issues in the Law of the Sea (2011), pp. 195-220.
• “A Possible Practical Solution of the Dispute over the Dokdo/ Takeshima Islands from a Perspective of the Law of the Sea,” S. Lee and H. E. Lee eds., DOKDO-Historical Appraisal and International Justice (2011), pp. 71-89.
• “Legal Responses of Japan to Impediments and Harassments by Foreign Vessels against Japanese Vessels during Research Whaling in the Antarctic Sea” Japanese Yearbook of International Law, No. 52 (2009), pp.553-582.
• “A Legal and Practical Arrangement of Disputes Concerning Maritime Boundaries Pending Their Final Solution and Law Enforcement-From a Japanese Perspective,” N. A. Martinez Gutierrez ed., Serving the Rule of International Maritime Law-Essays in Honour of Professor David Joseph Attard, (2010), pp. 95-118.
• “Challenging the Fundamental Principle of the Freedom of the High Seas and the Flag State Principle Expressed by Recent Non-Flag State Measures on the High Seas,” Japanese Yearbook of International Law, No. 51 (2008), pp. 21-56.
• “Marine Scientific Research in the Waters Where Claims of the Exclusive Economic Zones Overlap between Japan and the Republic of Korea,” The Japanese Annual of International Law, No. 49 (2006), pp. 98-122.
• “Fisheries Law Enforcement by Japan in Its Exclusive Economic Zone and Hot Pursuit from the Exclusive Economic Zone onto the High Seas of a Foreign Vessel Which Failed to Obey an Order to Heave to,” The Japanese Annual of International Law, No. 48 (2005), pp. 109-122.
• “The Impact on the Freedom of Navigation by International Regulation for the Purpose of Fisheries Resources Conservation and Marine Environmental Protection,” St. Paul’s Review of Law and Politics [Rikkyo Hogaku], No. 66 (2004), pp. 150-190.
• “The Incident of an Unidentified Vessel in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone,” The Japanese Annual of International Law, No. 45 (2002), pp. 116-126.
• “Determination of the Dispute in the Southern Bluefin Tuna Case,” St. Paul’s Review of Law and Politics [Rikkyo Hogaku], No. 60 (2002), pp. 103-156.
• “The Japanese Legal System Concerning Innocent Passage of Foreign Vessels (1990-1998),”The Japanese Annual of International Law, No. 42 (1999), pp. 90-110.
• “A Critical Analysis of Changes and Recent Developments in the Concept of Conservation of Fishery Resources on the High Seas,” The Japanese Annual of International Law, No.41 (1998), pp. 1-29.
• “Some Considerations Regarding Methods of International Regulation in Global Issues: ‘Sovereignty’ and ‘Common Interests’,” in E. B. Weiss ed., International Compliance with Nonbinding Accords (1997), pp. 81-117.　
• “Methods of International Regulation for Global Environmental Protection: A Reappraisal of International Law Making,” in M. K. Young and Y. Iwasawa eds., Trilateral Perspective on International Legal Issues: Relevance of Domestic Law and Policy (1996), pp. 47-60.
• “The Significance of ‘Pledge and Review’ Process in Growing International Environmental Law,” The Japanese Annual of International Law, No. 35 (1992), pp. 1-32.

Others

International Litigations

Counsel for the Government of Japan in the Whaling in the Antarctic Case (Australia

v. Japan: New Zealand intervening) in the International Court of Justice (2010 - 2014)

Advocate for the Government of Japan in the Southern Bluefin Tuna Case (Australia

and New Zealand v. Japan) in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the Following Arbitration (1999 - 2000)

Social Activities

１．International

• Member of the Informal Expert Meeting Organized by the NATO Legal Committee (2023)
• Member of the American Society of International Law
• Member of the Governing Board of (UN) IMO International Maritime Law Institute
• National Editor of Japan for Encyclopedia of Public International Law in Asia, Brill, 2021
• International Law Association, Member of the Committee on Submarine Cables and Pipelines
• International law Association, Member of the Committee on Baseline (2008-2018)
• Country Reporter of Japan for the Yearbook of International Environmental Law (1998-2006)
• Assistant for the Japanese Member of the International Law Commission of UN, upon request by Foreign Ministry of Japan (1994)

２．Lectures at Foreign Institutes and Others

• Instituto de Relaciones Internacionales (June, 2024)
• Seoul Academy of International Law, Korea National Diplomatic Academy (July, 2024)
• A Special Course of Lectures as Lecturer at The Hague Academy of International Law in The Hague, The Netherlands, entitled “The Reassessment of Acts of the State in the Law of State Responsibility – A Proposal of an Integrative Theoretical Framework of the Law of State Responsibility to Effectively Cope with the Internationally Harmful Acts of Non-State Actors” (July, 2017)
  ＊An Article based upon the lectures was published in 2019 with the same title as that of the lectures, in Recueil des cours, Vol. 399 (2019), pp. 19-266
• International Maritime Organization, International Maritime Law Institute, Malta, as Visiting Scholar (2007-2011, 2018-present)
• Lectures on Japan’s Ocean Policy on Maritime Security and the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy, Requested by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka (2018)
• Katholieke Universteit Leuven, Faculty of Arts, Japanese Studies, Belgium, as Visiting Scholar (2007)

３．Overseas Research

（１）March 2017 - May 2017, Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center, USA

（２）January 2009 - March 2009, Visiting Scholar at the Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea, The Netherlands

（３）March 2008, Visiting Scholar at Leiden University, Faculty of Arts, Japanese Studies, The Netherlands

（４）March 2007 - April 2007, Visiting Scholar at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Faculty of Arts, Japanese Studies, Belgium

（５）September 1995 - July 1997, Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School