Colombo Giorgio Fabio, Justice and International Law in Meiji Japan

This book carries out a comprehensive legal analysis of the María Luz incident. In July 1872, the María Luz, a Peruvian barque, carried Chinese indentured servants from Macau to Peru. After the ship stopped for repairs in Yokohama, a number of legal issues arose that were destined to change the perception and use of the law in Japan forever. The case had a tremendous impact, both in Japan and internationally: as it is one of the first occurrences in which an Asian country resisted the pressure of a Western nation, and responded using the tools of domestic and international law.