The Carrier’s Liability under a Bill of Lading and the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act of Japan 1 December 2013 Seiichi Nakamura Attorney at Law, Nakamura Law Office Introduction The Carriers' liability under the Bill of Lading shall be determined by the terms of the Bill of Lading and the provisions of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act of Japan currently in force (hereinafter called “Japan COGSA”). The two are closely related so it is necessary to have a profound understanding of Japan COGSA in order to understand the carrier's liability under the contract of carriage as evidenced by the Bill of Lading. Japan COGSA is an enactment of the Hague-Visby Rules as amended by Protocol of 1979, and, therefore, a profound understanding thereof is needed for a clear understanding of Japan COGSA. In 1957, Japan ratified the “International Convention for the unification of certain rules of law relating to Bills of Lading, signed at Brussels on 25th August 1924” (the “Hague Rules”). Consequent to the ratification of the Hague Rules, Japan enacted the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act of Japan on June 13, 1957. Thereafter, on March 13, 1992, Japan ratified the “Protocol amending the International Convention for the unification of certain rules of law relating to Bills of lading, 25 August 1924, as amended by the Protocol of 23 February 1968 done on December 21, 1979” (the “Protocol of 1979”). The Hague Rules were amended by the Protocol of 23 February, 1968 (the “Protocol of 1968”). The Hague Rules thus amended by the Protocol of 1968 are called the “Hague-Visby Rules”. The Hague-Visby Rules were further amended by the Protocol of 1979. As stated above, the Japan COGSA currently in force is an enactment of the Hague-Visby Rules as amended by the Protocol of 1979 and it came into force amending the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act of Japan of 1957 on June 1, 1993. Despite the amendment of the Hague-Visby Rules by the Protocol of 1979, the basic regime of the carrier' s liability under the Hag