Caught in the middle: The Japanese approach to international personal data flows

Japan is one of the handful of countries that has been found adequate for its personal data protection regime from the perspective of the European Union (EU), allowing personal data to be transferred from the EU to Japan without further constraints. At the same time, however, Japan has concluded several international trade agreements, including one with the United States of America (US), that only allow for very limited restrictions on data flows, including flows involving personal data. Therefore, Japanese data protection law is trying to bridge the two very differing approaches from the EU and the US. The EU is mandated by its own Court of Justice (CJEU) to understand data transfers as a question of ensuring the continuity of the fundamental rights protection of its residents. The US, on the other hand, views international data flows as being crucial for international trade and economic growth. Japanese data protection law seems to have room for both, although as pointed out by a project of the Digital Free Trade Alliance, for example, there are indications of a conflict between its trade agreements and its adequacy commitments to the EU.