A Message from the Program Directors:
Learning Law in Context at Meiji University

This year will mark the fourth year for the Meiji University Law in Japan Program; an intensive two-week program arranged for foreign students who would like to learn about Japanese law in its social and cultural context. Major fields of current domestic law will be covered: Constitutional Law, Civil Law, Criminal Law as well as the Law of Enterprises, Anti-Monopoly Law and Tax Law. Importantly, the program does not place emphasis on discussing law on a clause-by-clause basis, but allows participants to understand the characteristics of Japanese law from a broader comparative and socio-cultural perspective. Participants will learn not only key provisions of Japanese law, but also the institutional and historical contexts in which law works.

This program is designed to introduce the “essence and spirit” of Japanese law to foreign students who have interest in Japanese Law, but are prevented by the language barrier to study it in Japanese. Participants will gain an understanding of law and the legal system in Japan as a subject of the social sciences and humanities. We therefore welcome also students who major in Political Science, Sociology, Economics and other Social Sciences, and the Humanities. For law students, it will be an excellent opportunity to learn from a comparative perspective how law functions in different social contexts.

Professor Dr. Heinrich Menkhaus
Associate Professor Teruhisa Komuro