I. Brief history
Yokohama National University (YNU), as the only national university in Kanagawa Prefecture, has accepted quality students and produced excellent graduates for over half a century.
In 1990, our university established the Graduate School of International and Business Law (GSIBL), Japan’s first independent graduate program in law (Master’s course). The program was unique because it was not attached to an undergraduate law major, which is the usual situation in this country. The GSIBL developed a solid reputation in training beginners and producing legal professionals. In 1999, the GSIBL joined with other social science graduate programs at YNU to create the International Graduate School of Social Sciences. The Japanese Bar Association, the business world and other professional communities had been expecting YNU to establish a new juris doctor program to complement our already-successful Master’s course.
In April 2004, we established a law school corresponding to Japan’s new law school system, which is the first professional school system in Japan. Law schools are under the exclusive mandate to produce lawyers. YNU’s experience and achievement in graduate-level legal education in the past will help us work toward this goal.
II. Characteristics of YNU’s Law School
A. Independent from faculty of law
All professors belong to the Law School. No professor is a member of an undergraduate faculty.
We open our doors to everyone whether or not an applicant’s academic background is in law.
B. Personal education system
Twenty-six professors teach 50 students a year. Twelve other YNU professors and nine lecturers also give lectures.
Every class is small.
Every student is supported by one of nine advisory teams that give personal academic guidance. Each team consists of three professors, one of whom is a lawyer.
C. Cooperation with the Bar
The Yokohama Bar Association has contributed four professors, three of whom are full-time staff members, to our program, and we have two professors who belong to bar associations in Tokyo. In addition, the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice have also dispatched a lecturer and a professor. The Yokohama Bar Association also cooperates with our internship and legal consultation classes and helps us by providing educational materials.
D. Producing competitive lawyers
The number of lawyers will rapidly grow in the near future. That means lawyers must be competitive. We will train students by offering model programs (see list of lectures, annual time table and model programs) for them to develop specializations in important fields such as tax law and international business law. We also offer an attractive model program to train lawyers who can help citizens solve everyday legal problems.
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