James joined the ANU College of Law as a Lecturer in 2022. Before this he was a Project Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo (2015-2020) and Associate Professor at Sophia University (2020-2022). He has also held visiting academic positions at Meiji University and Waseda University in Tokyo. James works at the intersection of comparative private law and Japanese legal studies, with secondary research/teaching profiles in legal theory, law and sexuality, and law and the humanities (with a focus on contemporary Japanese popular culture). He has published widely on the Japanese law of property and succession, constitutional/administrative law and legal culture. He is the author of forthcoming monographs Law and Literature in Japan and Civilising the Trust: The Japanese Trust as Legal Transplant. James is a teaching co-Convenor for the Australian Network for Japanese Law, a founder of the Australia-Japan Student Policy Summit, convenor of LAWS4277 Japanese Law & Society, and coach for Australian national team for the Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition held annually in Tokyo.