Fostering the conceptual ability to lead in the design and operation of systems and organizations

Fostering talent for business, law, government, and many other spheres of society

The name "Faculty of Law" often makes people think of a place for the training of professional lawyers, like law schools in the United States. But faculties of law in Japan have long functioned as places to foster talent for the business world. At most, only one in every four graduates from the Kyoto University Faculty of Law enters the legal profession. Most of the remaining three quarters pursue careers in private companies. Many have taken up executive posts at major Japanese corporations and been leading Japanese industry. This is one of the reasons that the Kyoto University Faculty of Law has gained such an enviable reputation.

Studying major courses in law and political science

The Faculty of Law offers introductory major courses for first-year students, but students start to take most of the major courses in their second year. The curriculum centers on courses in law and political science (in the ratio of around three to one), but students can also take up to about ten courses from the Faculty of Economics. These courses enable students to gain broad insights into society, the corporate world, and the nation-state, and especially the rules that govern them. Since Japanese companies place a high value on students who have undergone this type of training, as mentioned above, most graduates of the Faculty of Law go on to work in the business world.

Honing your research, presentation, and debating skills in seminars

The Faculty of Law offers small-group courses called "seminars" for students in their third and fourth years. In seminars, all students pursue research on a predetermined theme, report their findings to the class based on a research paper, and discuss their report with the instructor and other students in the class. By proactively engaging in these courses, students can expect their skills of research, presentation, and debating to improve dramatically. For this reason, the Faculty of Law strongly encourages students to take seminar courses, and in reality almost all of its students do (it is possible to take one seminar course each semester with a maximum of up to three in total). English is designated as the language of instruction in some seminars.

Solid, incremental curricular requirements combined with respect for students' autonomy in learning choices

In order to encourage solid progress through the curriculum, the Faculty of Law sets limits (caps) on the number of credits students can take each semester; and with a view to incremental learning, the major curriculum available to second-year students is limited to a range of foundational courses. However, as none of the major courses are mandatory, students are free to make their own course choices in line with their individual plans for the future. In this way, students take the initiative for selecting their courses and planning their studies based on the idea that "all students design their own future." This is another distinctive feature of the Faculty of Law at Kyoto University.

Overview of Major Courses

Major Subjects

The Faculty of Law at Kyoto University offers the following elective major subjects aimed at broadening students' perspectives and developing individuals capable of re-evaluating the concepts of country and society, and taking leadership roles in organizations:

●Legal / Legal Philosophy, Sociology of Law, Japanese Legal History, European Legal History, Roman Law, Chinese Legal History, Introduction to Anglo-American Legal Systems, German Law, French Law, Constitutional Law (Frame of Government), Constitutional Law (Fundamental Human Rights), Constitutional Law (General Theory and Constitutional Litigation), Administrative Law (Administrative Law and Process), Judicial Review of Administrative Activities, Tort Liability of Governments and Taking Cases, Environmental Law, Tax Law, International Law (Sources, State and Territory), International Law (Individuals, Dispute Settlement and Use of Force), Law of International Organizations, Civil Law (General Provisions and Family Law), Civil Law (Property Law and Secured Transactions), Civil Law (General Provisions of Obligations and Law of Succession), Civil Law (Contract Law and Tort Law), Commercial Law (Corporations), Commercial Law (General Provisions and Commercial Transactions), Commercial Law (Negotiable Instruments), Economic Law, Intellectual Property Law, Law of Civil Procedure, Private International Law, International Trade Law, Labor Law, Social Security Law, Criminal Law (General Part), Criminal Law (Special Part), Criminal Procedure, Criminology, Introduction to Law, Family and Law

●Political Science / Principles of Political Science, Political Process, Comparative Politics, American Politics, International Politics, Analysis of International Political Economy, Political History, Political and Diplomatic History of Modern Japan, History of Political Thought, Public Administration, Public Policy Analysis, Introduction to Political Science I, Introduction to Political Science II

●Research on Foreign Literature / Research on Foreign Literature (German/ French/English)

●Special Lectures / Information and Law, Laws and regulations for listed companies, Insolvency Law (General Theory and Corporate Bankruptcy), Insolvency Law (Reorganization and Individual Debtor in Bankruptcy), Civil Execution and Provisional Remedies, History of Japanese Political Thought, Diplomatic History, European Private Law (European Union), European Private Law (European Legal Systems), Japanese Politics from a Comparative Perspective, International History 1900 to the Present, Modern Society and Lawyers, Modern Society and Justice, Practice and Law of Life Insurance, Financial Law and Banking Business, Theory and Practice of Trust Law, A Practical Guide to International Business Practice and Law

●Economic Relations / Introduction to Microeconomics, Microeconomics 1, Microeconomics 2, Social-Economics 1, Public Finance, Money and Banking, Economic History, Accounting, Monetary Policy, Economic Policy, Tax System, Statistics 2, Business Analysis, History of Economics, Economic History of Japan, European and American Economic History, Theory of Social Policy

Seminars

Our seminars prepare students to engage in vigorous debates and discussions and have been a prominent feature of the Faculty of Law since its very foundation. Seminars can be taken in the following areas:

●Legal / Sociology of Law, Japanese Legal History, Occidental Legal History, Roman Law, Oriental Legal History, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Tax Law, International Law, Law of International Organization, Civil Law, Commercial Law, Economic Law, Intellectual Property Law, Law of Civil Procedure, Private International Law, Laws of International Trade & Transactions, Labour Law, Social Security Law, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Criminology

●Political Science / Principles of Political Science, Political Process, Comparative Politics, American Politics, International Politics, Analysis of International Political Economy, Political History, Political and Diplomatic History of Japan, History of Political Thoughts, Public Administration, Public Policy Analysis