About the School of Law

Learning at the School of Law

In the School of Law, students can develop a legal way of thinking, study a wide range of specialized fields, and acquire a legal mindset through intensive small-group education delivered by highly qualified faculty members.

Learning in Three Courses

Three courses with an eye on students’ career designs

The School of Law offers three educational courses to support students’ future career designs: Legal Study Course, Political Science and Public Administration Study Course, and International Legal Study Course. The Legal Study Course is designed for students who aspire to pursue a legal profession such as a lawyer or a judge. Students mainly learn legal subjects. The Political Science and Public Administration Study Course is designed for students wishing to become civil servants, etc., helping them acquire policy-making skills by learning public administration-related subjects as well as legal subjects. The International Legal Study Course is designed for students who wish to work in the global arena as a businessperson or a journalist. Students learn a broad range of subjects including legal subjects, administration subjects and international studies subjects. After studying the basic subjects common to all courses, students will systematically take specialized subjects according to their respective career designs. Students will decide which course they wish to take before advancing to the second year.

Legal Study Course

This course is for students who wish to go on to law school with the aim of entering the legal profession, and those who want to be a court official or judicial scrivener. Students will develop legal thinking skills and basic skills for legal practice by studying traditional legal subjects.

Political Science and Public Administration Study Course

This course is designed for students who aspire to become national or local civil servants. Students develop policy-making skills by learning subjects related to politics and public administration in addition to traditional legal subjects.

International Legal Study Course

This course is designed for students who aspire to work in a private company or to become a journalist. Students develop a social sense and realistic policy mindset by acquiring broad social science knowledge by studying not only legal subjects, but also political and international studies.

*From any of the above courses, students can apply for the "Legal Professional Training Program” that allows them to complete the Law School early in a minimum of five years and take the bar examination. In addition, fourth year students can complete the Master's Program in a minimum of one year by taking subjects offered by the Graduate School (Department of Law and Political Science) in advance.

Subjects

The School of Law offers high-quality classes taught by competent professors according to the School’s tradition of small-class education. From the third year, students will take Seminars of their own choice and write Seminar Papers to acquire deeper knowledge while building trust-based relationships with instructors. As an initiative to commend their learning achievements in these classes, the School holds the Student Paper Competition every year, where excellent papers are selected for publication in one of the School’s periodicals. The School offers the introductory subjects of “Introduction to Legal Studies” and “Introduction to Political Science” to first-year students. From the second year, students will take the “Seminar on Legal and Political Studies for Sophomores” and “Seminar on Foreign Materials (English, German, French and Chinese). All these subjects are designed to enable students to acquire basic knowledge of law and politics at an early stage.

General Study of Law

Philosophy of Law／Sociology of Law／Japanese Legal History／Legal History of Modern Japan／Asian Legal History／European Legal History／Roman Law

Public Law

Constitutional Law 1／Constitutional Law 2／Administrative Law 1／Administrative Law 2／Tax Law／Criminal Law 1／Criminal Law 2／Criminal Procedure／Criminology

Private and Ecomonic Law

Civil Law 1／Civil Law 2／Civil Law 3／Civil Law 4／Civil Law 5／Commercial Law 1／Commercial Law 2／Commercial Law 3／Financial Instruments and Exchange Law／Civil Procedure／Civil Execution and Injunction／Insolvency Law

Social Law

Labor Law／Social Security Law／Competition Law／Intellectual Property Law

International and Comparative Law

International Law／Law of International Organizations／International Economic Law／Private International Law／Anglo-American Law／German Law／French Law／Asian Law (Chinese Law)

Political Science and Public Administration

Political Studies／Comparative Politics／Political Process／History of Political Thought／Japanese Political and Diplomatic History／European Political and Diplomatic History／International Politics／Public Administration／Public Policy／Special Lecture on Political Science

Others

Introduction to Legal Studies／Introduction to the Legal Profession／Introduction to Political Science／Quantitative Methods in Law and Political Science／Advanced Lecture on Criminal Lawyering／Seminar on Legal and Political Studies for Sophomores／Seminar／Seminar on Foreign Materials (English)／Seminar on Foreign Materials (German)／Seminar on Foreign Materials (French)／Seminar on Foreign Materials (Chinese)