Under a loose classification, our specialised subjects can be categorised into foundational law subjects, civil law subjects and public law subjects, and form a diverse curriculum. On the basis of foundational law subjects that nurture thorough and substantive legal literacy through research in specialised fields, Kanagawa University Graduate School of Law provides a diverse range of civil and public law subject from which knowledge and technical skills can be gained, and appropriately applied in each student’s future vision. Among these subjects, the “Tax Law Course” is a class that has been created for those who aim to gain the licensed tax accountant qualification.
At Kanagawa University Graduate School of Law, we are undertaking a large-scale revision of the curriculum in order to respond to new needs in contemporary society, and in order to implement a comprehensive graduate school education that welcomes diverse graduate students. Under the new curriculum that was implemented in 2010, a course that concretely supports learning and research in the graduate school on academic writing and legal research methods (Research skills course), a course that aims to position awareness of issues stemming from various social experiences in the framework of the social sciences (Contemporary society course), and a course in the form of a research group that is based on a collective guidance system (General Seminar on Law and Politics) have been delivered and are showing results. Courses such as these are indispensible for the guidance of graduate students with diverse backgrounds and whose research themes straddle more than one specialisation. In terms of time necessary for completion of degrees, the Graduate School of law has prepared a long-term completion system for planned long-term completion, as well as a short-term completion system that allows a student to gain a Master’s degree in one year. In addition, in order to effectively use the flexibility of the systems for the length of time needed to complete degrees, the Graduate School of law has introduced a semester system and a “Master’s Research Paper”, under which social and other types of experience can be used as research results in lieu of a master’s dissertation. So that students may get the full use out of these new systems, the Graduate School of Law also has special credited auditor and credited auditor systems in which students can register to listen to classes.
Further, we are also currently engaged in reshaping our doctoral course in terms of completion time, to make it a space for flexible and substantive learning and research.