The development of legal education in Japan in the first half of the Meiji era: An outline of the history of Meihōryō and Shihōshō Hōgakkō

The article examines the history of the development of professional legal education in Japan at the initial stage of the Meiji modernization (1868 1885). After the fall of the Tokugawa regime, Japan embarked on the path of Westernization, trying to strengthen its international position and ensure equal status in relations with the leading Western states. Wishing to revise the unequal Ansei Treaties, the Meiji government set two goals: the first goal was to adopt modern laws in Japan that corresponded to Western models; the second goal was to reform the principles of administration of justice and the system of jurisdictional state bodies that had been established during the time of the shogunate. At the same time, the application of the “new” laws required professional legal personnel, which Japan did not have at that time. In the first years after the Meiji Revolution, the Japanese government attempted to solve the problem of the lack of lawyers in the country by sending the most talented young Japanese abroad to receive legal education at European universities. However, this practice was very slow in solving the problem of the country's shortage of lawyers. Then the Meiji government decided to establish the first specialized law school in Tokyo and invite teachers from Europe to teach the basics of Western jurisprudence to the first generations of Japanese students. French law was chosen as a model for teaching. Initially, the law school operated within the framework of the Institute of Legal Studies (Meyhōryō), established at the Ministry of Justice of Japan. However, in May 1875, an administrative reform was carried out, during which the Meyhōryō school was closed, and a new law school called the “Law School of the Ministry of Justice (Shihōshō Hōgakkō) became its “successor.” The initial stage of the development of legal education in Meiji Japan is inextricably linked with the activities of these educational institutions. In this article, the author examines the history of the establishment and development of Meyhōryō and Shihōshō Hōgakkō, examines the issue of staffing the educational process and the social background of the first students, provides data on the number of students, and notes the main vectors of development of the professional careers of graduates.

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