Institute of Comparative LawWaseda University

UENO, Tatsuhiro

The Institute of Comparative Law (ICL) of Waseda University was established in 1958. The late Muneo Nakamura (Professor Emeritus of Waseda University and member of The Japan Academy), who was a professor at the School of Law at the time, took part in the International Congress of Comparative Law in Paris in 1954, where he was impressed by the rise of comparative law institutes in foreign countries after the World War II. With the 75th anniversary of the founding of Tokyo Senmon Gakko (founded in 1882), the predecessor to Waseda University, in 1957, the ICL was established in April 1958 with Professor Muneo Nakamura serving as the first Director.

Article 1 of the ICL Regulations remains unchanged, stipulating the purpose of the ICL: “embodying the University’s founder Shigenobu Okuma’s founding spirit, to promote and actualize Okuma’s ideal of ‘harmony of East and West civilizations’ in accordance with the times.”

At present (April 2025), the ICL has 105 research staff members who are full-time faculty members at Waseda University whose research fields are related to comparative law, 165 adjunct researchers from outside Waseda University who take part in the ICL’s activities, as well as 3 assistant professors/research associates and other members. The ICL also has 20 ongoing joint research projects.

The ICL actively promotes international academic exchange, and has concluded agreements with the Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; School of Law, Tsinghua University; Institute for Comparative and International Law, University of Melbourne; School of Law, Duke University; the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law; the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition; the Korea Legislation Research Institute; and University College London (UCL), among other institutes. The ICL accepts visiting scholars, and researchers from other countries can visit the ICL as well. Over 20 public lectures and symposiums are hosted and co-hosted by the ICL each year.

The results of the activities of the ICL are published regularly in our publications, Hikaku Hogaku, Waseda Bulletin of Comparative Law, and Hikakuhokenkyujo Sosho, as well as through our online platforms, Topics of Japanese Law, Waseda ICL Online Journal, and Waseda ICL Online Forum.

The ICL will celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2028. We will be grateful for your continued support and cooperation.

Tatsuhiro Ueno

22nd Director, Institute of Comparative Law

September 21, 2024

Link to Japanese page.