Iwashi, Waichiro
Waseda University was established in
1882 as Tokyo Professional College, and
the history of the School of Law began
at the same time, which was established
as the Law Department. After nearly 130
years of training numerous students for
the legal profession, the department has
developed into one of the most
influential faculties of law.
The School, together with the Graduate
School of Law, Waseda Law School, and
the Institute of Comparative Law, forms
a study and educational organization
called Waseda University Jurisprudence
Academy. At this Academy, the School is
responsible for basic education in
jurisprudence. Here, the education
consists of two scales: one is a
professional education in the law that
serves as a sound foundation for those
who aspire for careers as bureaucrats
and business leaders, as well as those
who aspire to the legal profession. The
other is a language and liberal arts
education that offers breadth and depth
to the study of law by broadening the
students’ perspectives to include the
human and social phenomena that are the
cornerstones of jurisprudence. By
enhancing and engaging these two scales,
not only do we offer knowledge, we
develop human resources with a logical
mind and fair judgment based on legal
knowledge—which is our goal.
The achievement of this rewarding goal
with certainty depends entirely on the
quality of our personnel. On that point,
I am quite confident. Faculty members at
the Jurisprudence Academy count over 90
for the legal course and 30 for the
language and liberal arts courses, all
of whom are active scholars in the legal
academy. In the legal course, the
majority of professors teach at three
facilities: the School of Law, Graduate
School of Law, and Waseda Law School. As
a result, students have access to an
advanced and diversified education and
training program from a variety of
different professors. Advanced education
is fueled by advanced studies. The
lively activities at the Institute of
Comparative Law and daily presentations
made by Global COE Waseda Institute for
Corporation Law and Society show that
our studies are fulfilling. The former
includes several collaborative studies
conducted simultaneously with both
internal and external researchers, with
more than fifty lectures and workshops
offered each year. The latter is a
program selected and funded by the
government aiming to form a global
center, and many of our Academy
personnel participate.
Since the collapse of the Bubble
Economy, our country seems to have
stagnated. However, just as a grown man
seldom grows taller, it is difficult for
a highly developed society to grow
visibly. But, as a grown man matures in
proportion to his age, there is no limit
to increasing the maturity of a
developed society. Our society has
shifted from an era that forcibly builds
up everything higher and higher to a
quiet era of sustainable maturity.
However, the quiet era does not mean
that society will lose its dynamism.
Society now is merely a step toward the
coming society. Do not be satisfied with
the present situation. Do not give up.
Look what you already have with a sense
of perspective, and then seek and move
toward the ideal—that is the dynamism of
a mature society, bolstered by a spirit
that explores the future by gaining
broad and profound domestic and
international wisdom. The Waseda
University School of Law, through our
education in the basics of
jurisprudence, wishes to develop human
resources with a dynamic spirit and send
them into society.
There is a phrase at our alma mater; “Her
students change from year to year, meet
and part with youth's delight. Yet all
alike, we seek to share these ideals and
their light.” We will
continue to maintain solid progress,
showing deep respect to our predecessors
and their achievements, as an
educational institution that responds to
the efforts of those who learn and teach
at this campus and to the expectations
of those who enter our school in the
future.