This work is the result of a conference held in September 1996 in Germany in honour of Professor Hiroshi Kaneko, Emeritus Professor of Tokyo State University. Some 60 scholars and practitioners of international tax law from Japan and Germany convened to discuss questions of common interest. The first part of the book explores the methods of interpretation of tax statutes and treaties used in both countries, particularly in light of the totally different structure of the Japanese language as compared to European languages. Such differences may be of potentially significant importance to the interpretation of tax treaties, usually concluded in two authentic language versions which are equally binding.