Jiro Tamura, Professor, Faculty of Law

The motto of our seminar class is "enjoy studying, and be serious at play". When "studying", we try to concentrate, be strict to ourselves, be frank in debates, and still enjoy it while feeling intellectual excitement. On the other hand, when "playing", we go all the way. Everybody spares no effort in bringing together ideas for our welcome party for new students, Christmas party, softball tournament, and alumni and student meeting for which about 150 people gather every year.

The objective of our seminar class is to gather knowledge of economic law (antitrust law) and international economic law (WTO), to acquire legal thinking and to learn to communicate and express one's knowledge.

At third-year, students learn through debating, and by asking questions to graduate students, the third-year students find debatable grounds by themselves, and put together their own opinions for the debate. After the debate, everybody takes part in a discussion to clear questions and review viewpoints to better understand the issue. Through "thinking by oneself" before "being taught", knowledge is assimilated more deeply, and students acquire true knowledge. Also, through preparation of debates, students learn how to think in a legal manner, and during debates, they constantly try to express their opinions clearly and briefly, and this is how they learn to communicate and express the acquired knowledge.

At fourth-year, students spend the whole year preparing for the graduation thesis, and also learn how to negotiate in the real world. As for the graduation thesis, for every student, two graduate students are appointed as tutors, so they can answer questions at any time and also give comments on the outline or draft of the thesis. Unlike debating which is group learning, writing a graduation thesis is individual learning, and through this experience, students face up to their knowledge and capacity, and will try harder to improve them. As for the negotiation skills, we have adopted practical learning such as role playing, and students learn to think logically and creatively.

I want our seminar class to be where people of different types gather to give inspiration to each other.

Whether working hard in an athletic team, putting in a lot of effort in part-time jobs or volunteering, preparing for law school, aspiring to become civil servants, seeking a job at private companies or wishing to study abroad, students get together and experience debating with other students who have different opinions, which is a life-long experience.

Also, I want students to feel inspired as often as possible during their short college life, so 6 times a year, I invite businesspeople who are mainly graduates of my seminar class to give a lecture at our "Businessperson seminar". I want students to be inspired by seniors, so that they can figure out what to work on now for the future of themselves.

Recently, bid-rigging cases and the WTO Doha Round are being reported daily, and economic law and international economic law have become important than ever in the society. During the two years of college life, I want students to acquire life-long knowledge and capability, and life-long friends.

Faculty Profile

Prof. Jiro Tamura, Faculty of Law

Prof. Jiro Tamura attended Keio University and graduated from the Department of Law of the Faculty of Law in 1981. In 1985, he finished the Harvard Law School with a master's degree as a Fulbright scholar. In 1987, he earned credit of the Doctor's Degree of the Science of Law. After serving as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law and Professor at the Faculty of Policy Management, he became Professor of the Faculty of Law in 1997. He has also served for the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) and the Brookings Institution, served as guest researcher at the U.S. Senator's office and as Guest Professor at Law School of Georgetown University. He specializes in economic law (antitrust law) and international economic law (WTO).

Student's Voice

Ryota Yonekura, Fourth-year Student,
Faculty of Law

Hot-blooded teacher and hot-blooded classmates, have fun at study and be serious at play

The most attractive point of this seminar class is that law is not the only thing we learn; we also learn logical thinking, presentation skills and teamwork through debates and negotiation practice. It is also a special experience to learn about the leading-edge issues of anti-trust law and WTO from Prof. Tamura, who is active in the front lines of business.

Thanks to the teaching and guidance of Prof. Tamura and graduate students, we are able to feel our progress every day. Also, teamwork is essential in this seminar class, so students show strong solidarity and we become very close to each other. Another attraction of this seminar class is the strong network of more than 600 graduates, and we are now preparing for next year's 20th anniversary alumni and student meeting. Through hot-blooded seminar life, you can earn two fulfilling years and life-long friends and seniors.