Law School

Academic Principles & Scheme

The Law School (Graduate School of Law) was established in order to fulfill the mission of cultivating professional lawyers who serve to enact the rule of law in society. We would like to send forth lawyers into Japanese society who are able to help people by utilizing their legal skills while casting a kind eye toward the socially vulnerable, acting under the school motto "The Salt of the Earth, The Light of the World." We provide education on a daily basis based on this ideal. The Law School aims to nurture lawyers who have a strong awareness as professionals, and who have the ability to calmly and accurately analyze facts and situations on their own from a wide and profound perspective, to proactively investigate should the need arise, to conduct deep and diverse deliberation, to debate, and to appropriately solve issues. In order to nurture these types of abilities, we conduct classes with an emphasis on systematic development, from fundamentals to application and with strong focus on the link between theory and practice. Students are required to have a strong desire to become lawyers in Japan.

Academic Excellence

The Law School not only provides various classes aimed at giving students an accurate and in-depth understanding of the legal knowledge necessary to become a lawyer, but it features a unique curriculum for cultivating not only skills, but also ethical standards and values, which have become its foundation. For example, in "Theory of Public Interest Legal Practice," faculty members who specialize in theory of legal practice invite lawyers who are actively involved in public activities to give lectures. Students then think about actual issues and grow as professionals. We also value the "Science of Legislation." We aim to nurture students' ability to write legal texts in accordance with standard practice. This class is popular among students due to practical lectures given by faculty members who have a wealth of practical experience working in the Legislation Bureau. In terms of acquiring skills as a lawyer, we help students learn practical skills by mastering IT skills, searching for data on various issues, combining these, and then making legal decisions. Furthermore, in terms of business practice, students undergo externships and mock trials, and are required to take practice courses that are accompanied by faculty members who are researchers as well as those who are practitioners. We strive to help students master essential facts and fact-finding as common languages for solving legal issues. Moreover, we emphasize the international element, and we have prepared several such courses, particularly on American law and EU law. One of the Department's characteristics is cultivating lawyers who have an international sensitivity, so we welcome various types of students.

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