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School of Law

• Dean's message
• About our school
• Curriculum
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About our school

Campus

Freshmen and Sophomores/Izumi, Juniors and Seniors/Surugadai

Departments and Courses (Major)
Department of Law

• Business Law Course
• International Relation Law Course
• Law and Information Course
• Public Service Law Course
• Pre-Law School Course

Sending Out Legal Professionals into the World for 128 years

The School of Law of Meiji University has long nurtured many excellent legal professionals. The founding spirit of the school is alive and well today. An illustration of this is the bestowal of the "Charter of the Foundation of State" on lawyer Tatsuji Fuse by the Korean Government in 2004. Mr.Fuse is the first Japanese person to be given this celebrated recognition.

The Birth of Meiji Law School

The history of Meiji University is also the history of its Law School. The Meiji Law School, which evolved into the present Department of Law, was founded in January of 1881( the 14th year of Meiji Era). The founders, Tatsuo Kishimoto, Kozo Miyagi and Misao Yashiro, were among the first graduates of The Law School of the Department of Legal Affairs. The School, founded by of Shinpei Eto, the Legal Minister of the day, to nurture elite legal professionals at Daigaku Nankou, which developed into the present Department of Law of Tokyo University. The Law School of the Department of Legal Affairs was the first institution in French law studies, and Gustave Emile Boissonade, the French legal scholar who is known as the father of Japanese modern law, instructed at this school. The three founders of our school were, in fact, students of Mr.Boissonade.

The Alma Mater of Many Legal Professionals

Since its foundation, the Meiji Law School has produced a great many legal professionals. In the bar exam of 1893, the 26th year of the Meiji Era, graduates of the school comprised 40 percent of the successful applicants, which was the leading percentage among private law schools. Against the political headwinds of the 20s of the Meiji Era(1887-1896) caused by the expulsion of a Supreme Court judge who studied French law after the Otsu Incident and by the delay of enforcement of the former civil code through the civil code dispute, graduates of the Meiji Law School formed the second force in Japan of legal professionals, next to those of Tokyo University. The school has produced a variety of famous legal professionals: Takeki Osatake, a graduate of 1899, was a famous judge on the Supreme Court as well as a historian. Two lawyers, Kesaya Yamazaki and Tatsuji Fuse, famous for their devotion to human rights, are also counted among the graduates of 1901. Finally, Osamu Hiraide, a graduate of 1903, also went on to become a famous poet of the Myojyo School.

Producing Female Legal Professionals

The Meiji Law School was one of the first schools that functioned to cultivate female legal professionals. The Women’s Department, founded in 1929, produced the first female lawyer in Japan. Today, many leading female lawyers are graduates of our school.The Meiji Law School has made a valuable contribution to raising the position of women in Japanese society.

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