Astah, formerly known as JUDE (Java and UML Developers' Environment, pronounced Jūdo (ジュード)), is a UML modeling tool created by Japanese company Change Vision.
JUDE received the "Software Product Of The Year 2006" prize, established by Information-Technology Promotion Agency in Japan.
JUDE development was started by Kenji Hiranabe, CEO of Change Vision, Inc., in 1996.
This decision came about because some UML modeling tools existed overseas but they were a bit high priced; and the company would get feedback from Japanese users and could evolve more if JUDE was released on the market.
In September 2009, JUDE was renamed to Astah after receiving concerns from German users who pointed out the product name was similar to the German word Jude, which refers to a male Jew.