Academic Year 2017
Vol.98 Various documents that tell the story of law school days before the "University Ordinance
August 08, 2017
Academic Year 2017In the fall of 2016, valuable materials related to two alumni who studied at the University's predecessor law school were donated to the University by Mr. Kiichiro Terakawa, a relative of both.
One of the alumni, Mr. Hidekatsu Tokudaira, a native of Kyoto Prefecture, entered "Tokyo Law School" in 1886 and graduated from "Wafu Law School" in 1889. After working as a notary public and a lawyer, he served as a judge (magistrate) of the Omori District Court in Shimane Prefecture.
Mr. Tokuhei's "graduation certificate," donated this time, is one of the oldest in existence. The Japanese-French Law School had two law departments, Japanese and French, so the affiliation is listed as "Japanese Law Department. The name of the school is preceded by "Ministry of Justice Designated School," which was authorized to take the Higher Civil Service Examination (equivalent to the National Bar Examination and the National Civil Service Competency Examination). The names of the school's principal at the time, Rinsho Minosaku, and Boissonade are also included, suggesting that Mr. Tokuhei took classes from both of them.
The donation also includes a number of letters of appointment received while he was a judge. The letter of appointment received when he was promoted to the rank of "high official, 7th class" bears the name of Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito.
Mr. Tokuhei's graduation certificate. His graduation grade "No. 3" is written in the upper left.
Another alumnus, Shigetada Morishita, Tokuhei's son-in-law, graduated from the Law Department of Hosei University in 1917, passed the Higher Civil Service Examination, and entered the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce (the equivalent of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry).
He entered the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce (equivalent to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, and Economy, Trade and Industry). He served as an administrative officer in Osaka, Yamaguchi, Okinawa, Hiroshima, etc., and was known on campus as an alumnus who rose through the ranks.
The donated photo of Mr. Morishita in commemoration of his graduation shows the Kudan-jo School Building (Fujimi-cho 6-chome), which was built in 1890 as a new school building for the Wabutsu Law School. Morishita later wrote in the February/March 1935 issue of Hosei Daigaku Hoho (Hosei University News) about "the classes given by Professors Masaaki Tomii and Eiichi Makino in the shabby school building.
The year Tokuhei entered the school, Tokyo Law School became one of the "five major law schools" under the supervision of the Imperial University, and in the year of his graduation, the school merged and changed its name to Wabutsu Law School. Mr. Morishita studied at "Hosei University," which became an official professional training college under the "Senmon Gakko (professional training college) Ordinance" of 1903.
Hosei University, which became an official professional training college under the Senmon Gakko (professional training college) ordinance of 1903. Later, in 1920, the university became a general university under the University Ordinance, bringing an end to the law school era.
The documents related to the two schools show that the university, judicial, and administrative systems were undergoing rapid changes during the Meiji and Taisho periods as they worked toward their establishment. Although the name and the school building changed several times, the students who came from all over the country during the law school period to become legal professionals or government officials (national civil servants) were active in various fields after graduation.
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Left: Mr. Tokuhei in legal uniform, probably when he was a district court judge. Right: Mr. Tokuhei's letter of appointment as a high court official, 7th class, in 1898.
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Mr. Morishita's graduation ceremony photo. Mr. Morishita says, "The most enjoyable thing was to hold a speech contest in the absence of lectures.
(Interview supported by Mr. Kiichiro Terakawa and Hosei University History Center)
(First published in the May 2017 issue of Hosei, a public relations magazine)
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