NEW BRUNSWICK — As a teenager, Takuya Matsunami knew he wanted to be a judge.

But Matsunami eventually took a longer path than most to the legal profession: The Osaka, Japan, resident majored in physics while in college.

He also endeavored to study law and four months before graduating, took the national bar exam.

“I really wanted to be a lawyer or judge,” Matsunami said recently. “I decided that when I was a high school student. But, I wanted to study the most interesting thing in the world to me in college and that was physics.”

Matsunami, 27, has since realized his high school dream, and presides over civil cases in Osaka.

But for the next few months, Matsunami will continue his legal education in New Jersey, through a cooperative program the state initiated in 1972.

Matsunami, along with his wife, has lived in New Brunswick since July, first observing courts in Middlesex County. He has since been to courtrooms throughout the state, spending the most time in Essex, Burlington and Bergen counties.

What has really impressed him so far, he said, is “the efficiency of case management.”

“Especially in Essex County where they have a huge caseload but they manage the cases very efficiently,” Matsunami said. “I was amazed.”

He was also surprised at how courteous judges and court staff are to litigants, how much larger everyone is in the United States compared with people in Japan, and how friendly everyone can be.

The judge also noted several similarities between the two court systems.

As they are in Japan, New Jersey’s courts are unified into one state system. And in both countries, judges are appointed.

Some of the differences, however, can be striking.

“The judges are so much older here than in Japan,” said Matsunami.

Matsunami said it’s only been in the last few years that Japan has instituted jury trials in criminal cases. That country’s legal system uses just six jurors, and only as part of a panel that includes three judges — and only in serious cases such as robbery and homicide.

Civil trials, though, are decided solely by judges.

Becoming a judge in Japan also differs from the process in the United States. Students there must attend a law school, established in 2004, for two or three years, then take the national bar exam before attending the Legal Training & Research Institute. Once there, they decide which path they want to take and train to become prosecutors, judges or attorneys.

Matsunami graduated from the institute in August 2010. He was appointed an associate judge that September.

For the last several weeks, Matsunami has been listening in on judicial proceedings in Monmouth County. Next month he will visit courts in Morris and Mercer counties.

But both he and his wife have also found time to do some touring and sightseeing, chiefly to cultivate a newfound affection for parades. They attended the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Last week, his wife went to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade there.

“We love New York,” the judge smiled.

John Pushko, the civil division manager in Middlesex County, said the Japanese judges who visit are very interested in seeing how a specialized type of lawsuit — class action complaints — wind through the legal system.

Middlesex County is one of only three counties in the state that handles class-action suits.

“It was really great having him here,” Pushko said. “The judge was really interested in our processes and procedures and he explained how civil cases were handled in Japan.”

Superior Court Judge Lawrence Lawson, the assignment judge in Monmouth County, said the cooperative initiative works like a exchange program.

“I’ve learned a lot from them,” Lawson said. “Judge Matsunami has observed criminal, civil and drug court. We’ve talked about the differences in the courts between New Jersey and Japan and the differences here between courts in each county.”

Lawson, who has been an assignment judge since 1993, said the program is not reciprocal, much to his and other judges’ disappointment.

“We’d love to spend a year with them in Japan,” he said.

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