The CCCJ is grateful to benefit from the advice and guidance of our Honourary Board of Advisors (HBA). Set up in 2013, the HBA is comprised of influential leaders in business, government, and academia with ties to Japan and Canada. Ambassador Sadaaki Numata, formerly Japan’s Ambassador to Canada, currently chairs the HBA.

Our community mourns the loss of a much-loved HBA member, Professor Akio Morishima, who passed away on May 26, 2024 at the age of 89.

Morishima-sensei received his law degree in 1958 from the University of Tokyo, and a master’s degree in law from Harvard University in 1968. He was an expert in tort law – the process of securing compensation for a person or group that has been wronged. In the 1960s, as awareness of the harms of environmental pollution increased, he began to focus on securing compensation for victims of pollution and environmental disasters. He soon became one of the world’s foremost experts in environmental law and a trailblazer in environmental policy development in Japan.

As chairman of the Policy and Planning Committee of the Central Environment Council, he contributed to Japan’s Basic Environmental Law. In 1998, he also masterminded the government’s Basic Environment Plan, which outlines Japan’s long-term policies for environmental preservation. From 2000 to 2004, he was president of the Central Environment Council, which promotes policies and coordinates with stakeholders to advance sustainability in Japan. And from 1998 to 2007 he was president of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies.

His connections to Canada go back more than 40 years. In 1980, Morishima-sensei taught at the University of British Columbia for a year as a visiting professor. There, he met Wilf Wakely, a Canadian lawyer and eventual chair of the CCCJ. This was the beginning of a long friendship. At some point, arms were twisted, drinks were had, and the CCCJ found ourselves delighted to have Morishima-sensei join the HBA.

Professor Morishima leaves behind a long list of publications, awards, and achievements in service of a just and sustainable world. He also leaves behind many fond memories in the hearts of those in the CCCJ community who knew him. We will always remember his amiable presence at meetings and bonenkai, an unflappable advocate for getting it done and making it right. We are grateful for his leadership. Rest in peace, Morishima-sensei.