Ima Hogaku wo Shiritai Kimi e (For Those Who Want to Learn About Law Now)

What kind of intriguing issues can one encounter and engage with while studying law? Since the 2021 academic year, the Faculty of Law of the University of Tokyo has been offering a course titled " Law and Today's World," in which over a dozen faculty members each deliver a lecture to first- and second-year undergraduates, regardless of their specialization in the humanities or sciences.
 
For Those Who Want to Learn About Law Now is a book that compiles the content of the 2022 academic year's "Law and Today's World" course into a single volume. It features contributions from 13 faculty members of the Faculty of Law, each authoring one chapter.
 
As the outcome of the 2021 academic year's "Law and Today's World" course, we had previously published For Those Who Are Going To Be Familiar With Law. This new book serves as the second installment in the series.
 
We hope this book will be picked up not only by first- and second-year undergraduates but also by high school students curious about what the Faculty of Law entails, third- and fourth-year undergraduates and law school students seeking to reaffirm the significance of their studies, and professionals striving to refine their insights.
 
This course is not exclusively for students aiming to enter the Faculty of Law to pursue a legal education. Success in fields such as natural sciences or computer sciences requires a diverse background, and implementing achievements in such fields into society demands insight into society, humanity, and norms. Naturally, it is impossible to convey everything in just 13 lectures. However, this course seeks to offer a wide array of windows into these themes, allowing students to sense their existence. This book compiles those ideas into a written format to extend that experience to an even broader audience.
 
In this course, faculty members specializing in a broad range of fields —— regardless of where their subjects are positioned within the orthodox law school curriculum —— introduce the specialized issues they grapple with in their work, one lecture at a time. The abstract title "Law and Today's World" was chosen to allow not only scholars of substantive law but also experts in foundational legal studies to participate and contribute. This approach has enabled us to include lectures and writings from those in foundational fields. The title “Law and Today's World,” rather than “Law of Today's World,” was also selected to accommodate topics grounded in historical research.
 
At the University of Tokyo, first- and second-year students and the Faculty of Law are separated by the physical distance of different campuses. We believe that overcoming this geographic barrier through various initiatives will also contribute to disseminating our insights to the broader society, including high school students.
 
We hope that this book will broaden the perspectives of those studying general and foundational subjects in preparation for legal studies. At the same time, we hope it offers those pursuing careers outside the field of law an opportunity to consciously explore the connections between their areas of interest and the discipline of law.
 

(Written by SHIRAISHI Tadashi, Professor, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics / 2024)