The basic code to create an instance from a Type parameter :

(full source on github )

// Scala

def newOne[T]()(implicit m: Manifest[T]): T = {
  // assume T as a no-args constructor
  m.erasure.newInstance().asInstanceOf[T]
}

// sample call
val v = newOne[String]()

// Java

public <T> T newOne(Class<T> clazz) {
  return clazz.newInstance();
}

// sample call from java
String v = newOne(String.class);

// sample call from scala
val v = newOne(classOf[String])