Master in Rechtswissenschaften

Our Graduate School of Law has two educational courses. One for students who want to further up their ability to analyze legal and political problems (Academic Course), and another for those who want to practice law in the future (Law School). In the Academic course students usually engage in research work on a specific theme, and thereby enhance their capacity of legal and political analysis. Training is performed on the basis of three students per teacher.

The Law School course provides students with a higher level of knowledge and skills required for practicing lawyers. For this purpose we have, besides many professors with long academic careers, professors who are practicing law and provide on-the-job training at law offices.

Osaka City University celebrates its 140th anniversary in 2020. It is one of the largest public universities in Japan, with 8 faculties and 11 graduate schools, offering bachelor, master, and doctoral courses in a wide variety of disciplines. At the time of its establishment, the mayor of Osaka, Hajime Seki, gave us a special mission: “The new university should not be an imitation of the national universities; it should serve the needs of its citizens; conduct original research on the culture, economy, and society of the city of Osaka and communicate the results to the people of the city.” To this day we honor his vision.

The spirit of Hajime Seki has given our university a freehearted character and has produced many great alumni. Among them are Distinguished Professor Yoichiro Nambu, who established the department of theoretical physics at our university and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008 for the discovery of the theory of spontaneously broken symmetry, which is the basis for elementary particle physics. He was followed by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, Director of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University, who earned his Ph.D. from Osaka City University, and won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012 for his research on iPS cells (induced pluripotent stem cells). In the business world as well, many founders of major companies and representatives of publicly traded companies, as well as internationally active alumni have graduated from our university.

What does society need? Talented people can clearly indicate what they can do, what they will study, and thus, what they want to do at a university. The significance of enrolling in a university is to find and decide your purpose in life. Education at our university achieves this. We consider worldliness and communication to be two important skills and have arranged programs, including our liberal arts and specialized education, as well as the science of Osaka’s famous “comedy” culture, international business practice, and global practical economic development around these two skills. We also actively promote overseas exchanges and support extracurricular activities. Nothing would make me happier than for everyone who studies at this university to enjoy a more meaningful communication with good teachers and friends as they get a running start towards the goals in life they discover here, all in this liberal academic environment cultivated by our traditions. My slogan for Osaka City University is “a local base of knowledge, health, and smiling faces.” Let us follow that slogan, and grow together as a university we are proud of, where we turn dreams into reality.