About Tsukuba Law School

Weekend and Evening Programs at Law school for Working Adults

Since 1990, the University of Tsukuba has pioneered programs at the graduate school of law at its Tokyo campus, for working adults intending to become legal professionals.

Based on this experience, the University of Tsukuba established a law school in April 2005. Tsukuba law school has the distinct feature of offering exclusive evening courses for working adults.

The main objective of Tsukuba law school is to provide a platform for working adults who wish to utilize their experience and achievements and progress in their careers. The law school hopes to meet the standards of the University of Tsukuba, which has always pioneered education programs for working adults in the law graduate school of its Tokyo campus. Founded on the principles of “fairness, openness, and diversity,” the school considers it their duty to offer working adults an opportunity to conveniently study law.

Therefore, Tsukuba law school is committed to provide high-quality, legal education that is closely allied to real-time practice. Moreover, its course plan includes specialized legal areas such as global business, intellectual property, and economic law, which prepare individuals to become specialized lawyers.

Admission Policy

The applicant should have practical experience as a member of the society to be able to identify legal problems, theoretically analyze them, and relate them to practice, based on their previously acquired knowledge, in order to provide legal services in the future.

Diploma Policy

We provide practical coaching to mold individuals into legal professionals such as judges, prosecutors, and attorneys-at-law. Therefore, we do not limit our research guidance to specific fields. A course program of minimum three years (if you have not studied law), or minimum two years (if you have already studied law ) is prescribed to acquire a high level of professional awareness, solve real-time problems, as well as to be able to respond appropriately to new legal concerns that arise with changing social situations.

Program Policy

We aim to provide courses that enhance the capacity of students to provide diverse legal services. They are trained to render services based on their practical experience as society members, irrespective of their intention to write the bar exam, and become legal practitioners. The basic law courses (35 courses) introduce the student to diverse subjects and helps them acquire a “legal mind.” In the basic legal practice courses (14 courses), students learn techniques to deal with legal problems, and solve them practically using concrete dispute cases. In basic law and/or adjacent courses, students will expand their knowledge in different fields, and gain new perspectives. Additionally, the advanced courses prepare students to address new legal problems that arise in the real world scenarios.

There is a long-term registration system for working adults seeking to acquire legal qualifications while working. If one finds it difficult to complete the course in the expected duration of three years because of work pressures, the long-term registration system enables them to extend their course span to four years. Students who have completed legal education at an undergraduate level are also permitted to apply for the long-term course of three years; however, their standard period for course completion is reduced to two years.

An introductory education in the form of basic seminars is offered for students who have not studied law before, but earnestly wish to apply. Moreover, before and after admittance into Tsukuba law school, we provide an ICT (information and communication technology) system that allows students to virtually attend the classes in case of their absence.