Professor Mitsuo Matsushita is one of the most respected leading figures in international economic law (IEL). His meritorious services, including being one of the founding members of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization from 1995 to 2000, have been well recognized throughout the world. His great writings, including so many widely circulated books and articles in the fields of international trade, competition law, and investment law, have been considered as widely influential. His educational services, including his professorship at Tokyo University and visiting professorships at Harvard Law School, Michigan Law School, Columbia Law School, Monash University in Australia, and at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, have been deeply appreciated by his students and by these educational institutions themselves. He is so immensely respected in the Asia-╉Pacific region and beyond, not only because of his leading role in IEL, but also because of his upright character in handling things, his warmness in treating friends, and his willingness in helping younger scholars. He was the founding chairperson of Asia WTO Research Network (AWRN) and continued to lead the group for almost ten years (from 2004 to 2013). It is because of Professor Matsushita that our colleagues in Asia-╉ Pacific region in the field of IEL have a permanent platform to engage in regular and exciting academic exchanges.