挑戦する情熱は、国を超えて
Tim Webster
Coronell University
It is at once a pleasure and an honor to be studying at Waseda Law School. As a leading academic institution, Waseda has offered me and my fellow exchange students an unparalleled opportunity to study law, to work with internationally renowned faculty, and to develop personal relations with the next generation of Japanese attorneys. It has been exhilarating and challenging, and I think we would all agree that the time has passed far too quickly.
Though only a few years old, Waseda Law School betrays no sign of its recent vintage. Housed in a beautiful building, with state of the art classes, computing facilities, and study rooms, the school sends a powerful and serious message to thosewho enter its halls.
Indeed, this seriousness emerges not only in the building itself, but imbues class discussions between students and faculty. I am humbled when I consider that my Japanese classmates take 8 or more classes per semester, and yet perform at a regularly high level in class. And yet, as one walks the halls before and after class, the convivial chatter suggest it is not all books and case law at Waseda. The social functions we have shared with Waseda students － and a cosmopolitan and well-educated bunch they are － reveal their curiosity about the world extending far beyond civil procedure and constitutional law.
As my interests lie primarily in international law, I have enrolled in classes with Professors Furuya Shuichi, Kubota Takashi, and Shimizu Akio. While each conducts class in a way that reflects his own unique personality, certain commonalities emerge among the three. It is clear that each could enthusiastically lecture for hours on his area of expertise, drawing on abundant professional experience to concretize theoretical concepts.
However, being committed teachers, they choose instead to cede class time to their students.
In the US, Japanese legal education has earned a reputation for being somewhat “German:” the professor comes in, reads his textbook, and leaves; the student either sleeps or, in this technologically advanced age, surfs the web.
Waseda Law School avoids such a curt characterization. Rather, students and faculty both take an active role in threshing out the week’s readings. If anything, the pedagogy would appear to ‘sensibly Socratic:’ students are called on, but not dragged over hot coals if they do not answer correctly. If only Waseda would establish an exchange program with American law faculty…
