In 2022 March, we have informed that a group of Nagoya University alumni students translated a popular japanese textbook on Public International Law into Uzbek. Now they’ve elevated this endeavor into a real project called Renaissance. The translation team consisted of Nagoya University, Kobe University, Kyushu University and Osaka University alumni from Uzbekistan. One of the target books was Hogakuno Sekai (The world of legal studies) edited by professor of Kyushu university, Shigeru Minamino, and published by Nihon Hyoronsha in 2013. This book was a compilation of 24 essays on various fields of legal studies and every single essay is written by leading scholars in each field of law in Japan.

Why was this book chosen for translation into Uzbek?  

Dr. Alisher Umirdinov, an associate professor at Nagoya University of Economics narrates the story as such:

When I got a job offer from my current university, I had a strong feeling to review my knowledge on Japanese law before landing to my new office. At that time, I was an assistant professor at the Institute of Advanced Research of Nagoya University. During my visit to the book store in South Co-op, I found this book in a bookshelf. It was an ideal reference book that opens a door for all major areas of legal studies in Japan. After using it for several years I strongly believed that this book has to be translated into Uzbek so that it finds new readers in Uzbekistan as well. Leaving it accessible to only Japanese students seemed to me a waste of considerable knowledge.  

Three big hurdles, however, were waiting ahead. First, consent from the respected authors to translate into Uzbek. Since the book was a compilation of 24 chapters written by dozens of professors, that job seemed to be a daunting task. Moreover, nobody in a translation team knows Professor Shigeru Minamino of Kyushu University in person. Second, how to negotiate and get permission from the publisher was also another problem. Third, gathering a strong and dedicated team to finish the translation work on time was the final, but again, very challenging requirement for the success of this project.

With the proposal of Dr. Alisher Umirdinov (LLD 2012) (photo), 12 former students of the CJL from Tashkent State University of Law formed a strong team. Coincidentally, professor Dai Yokomizo of Nagoya University GSL was one of the authors in Hogakuno Sekai and he had written the Private International Law chapter in this book. Knowing this fact, Dr. Alisher Umirdinov contacted Professor Dai Yokomizo and asked him about the feasibility of this project. As always, Professor Dai Yokomizo ardently supported the idea and introduced Alisher Umirdinov to the editor of the book. Professor Shigeru Minamino also immediately agreed and kindly facilitated talks with Nihon Hyoronsha, a publishing house, as well as the authors of the book chapters.

Having permissions both from publisher and authors, it took just a few days to gather all members of the team. After almost two years of hard-work, numerous online meetings and e-mails, revisions and editing, the Uzbek translation of the book was finally published in Uzbekistan in July 2023. We thank to all scholars and relevant people who supported our book translation project. Renaissance Books Project will continue its work.