392 COMPARATIVE LAW 



existence of juridical persons other than states, administrative 

 districts, and commercial companies, is not admitted. But foreign 

 juridical persons recognized as such by law or treaty do not come 

 under this rule. 



"Foreign juridical persons recognized as such under the provision 

 of the preceding paragraph have the same private rights as the 

 same classes of juridical persons existing in Japan; but this does not 

 apply to such rights as foreigners cannot enjoy, or so far as special 

 provisions are made by law or treaty." 



From the above provisions, it will be seen that the new Civil 

 Code made the equal enjoyment of rights a general rule, and limitations 

 and prohibitions exceptions. These limitations upon the foreigner's 

 equal enjoyment of rights are not numerous, and do not differ 

 greatly from those existing under the laws of many other modern 

 states. Such restrictions are the ownership of land or Japanese 

 ships, the right to work mines, to own shares in the Bank of Japan 

 or the Yokohama Specie Bank, to become members of the Stock 

 Exchange, to engage in the emigration business, to receive bounties 

 for navigation or ship-building, and a few others. Otherwise foreigners 

 are as free as the Japanese to engage in any commercial or industrial 

 business, or to own shares in any Japanese companies. Even the 

 restrictions above mentioned do not work so hard upon foreigners as 

 it may at first appear, for although foreigners as individuals can- 

 not own land, they may become members of any commercial com- 

 pany owning land or working mines. As individuals, they may have 

 the right of superficies, which is the right to use another person's 

 land for the purpose of enjoying the right of property in structures 

 and trees thereon. Moreover, the Law no. 39 of 1901, a right in rem 

 called "the right of perpetual lease," was created especially for the 

 benefit of foreigners or foreign juridical persons, who had held land 

 in the treaty ports under lease from the Japanese Government. 

 These leases, which had been no more than rights in personam, were 

 turned into rights in rem, and the rules relating to ownership are 

 applied to them. So they are now practically the same as ownership; 

 and as soon as they pass into the hands of Japanese subjects they are 

 turned into ownership. Moreover, opinions in favor of allowing 

 foreigners to own land are daily gaining strength, so that this 

 restriction is quite likely to be removed ere long. 



It will appear from the foregoing statement that the condition 

 of foreigners has undergone a great revolution during the half cen- 

 tury which has elapsed since the opening of the country. In the first 

 period, foreigners had no rights whatever; in the second period, they 

 enjoyed their private rights under treaties; but in the third period, 

 that is, under the new Civil Code, they enjoy their private rights 

 under the law, which recognizes the principle of equality as far as 



