Socialization In Todai's Faculty of Law

The preceding chapters have documented the preponderant position of the University of Tokyo in Japan's higher civil service. In 1986, six out of ten civil servants occupying the position of section chief or higher in the national government were Todai graduates (see table 21). The

[25] In a 1984 survey of 3,948 Japanese high-school students applying for admission to universities, conducted by the Japan Recruit (sic ) Center, 68.2 percent of the respondents agreed with the statement that "it will be difficult to get a job with a first-rate company (ichiryu kigyo ) unless one has gone to a first-rate university." Asahi shinbun , 1 Feb. 1985.

proportion increases to 76 percent at the bureau-chief level and to 86.7 percent at the vice-ministerial level. What is more, an overwhelming majority of these Todai graduates (about three-quarters) were products of its faculty of law (hogakubu ;). Overall, close to half of all the senior bureaucrats were graduates of Todai's law faculty, the proportion rising to 65.5 percent at the bureau-chief level and to 72.7 percent at the vice-ministerial level (see table 22).

That Todai's law faculty is the single most important source of Japan's administrative elite is indisputable. Before one jumps to the conclusion that its principal mission is to train future elite bureaucrats, however, one needs to inquire into the career paths taken by its graduates. Of 1,218 Todai law graduates whose occupations could be verified in 1900, 33 percent were in the legal profession and 31 percent were "administrative officials" (gyosei kanri ). Nearly three-quarters of the former were "judicial officials" (judges, prosecutors, and the like), hence the actual proportion of bureaucrats increases to 55 percent. Of 9,413 Todai law alumni about whom information was available in 1926, 25.3 percent were in the legal profession, and a majority of them (1,215 out of 2,194) were serving as "judicial officials." Administrative officials numbered 2,046 or 21.7 percent of the total. But nearly four in ten Todai law alumni were found to be working either in banks or in private firms. By 1958, the proportion of Todai law alumni in banking and private firms had increased to 43.8 percent (10,681 out of 24,366), whereas their proportion in the legal profession had declined to 12.8 percent. Judicial officials still outnumbered attorneys (1,776 as against 1,345). Meanwhile, the proportion of administrative officials remained virtually unchanged from 1926 at 22.6 percent.^[26]

Of 574 persons who graduated from Todai's law faculty in the spring of 1976, only 9 percent were bound for careers in the legal profession. That bespoke not the latter's decline in popularity over the years but the extreme difficulty of passing the judicial examination, a prerequisite for admission to the Judicial Training Institute, which in turn is a sine qua non for becoming a full-fledged lawyer. The proportion of those opting for civil-service careers in the national government was 21.8 percent, which was consistent with the trend noted above. When we add those hired by public corporations and local governments, the proportion of civil servants increases to 29.3 percent, by far the largest category. The next-largest category was banking, which accounted for nearly a quarter of the law graduates.^[27]

[26] Shimizu, Tokyo Daigaku Hogakubu ;, p. 48.

[27] Tokyo Daigaku shinbun , 28 June 1976.

What emerges from the preceding analysis is that the principal mission of Todai's law faculty is neither to train lawyers nor to produce elite administrators. Rather, it is to produce Japan's future leaders in a wide range of fields, most of which are in the private sector. Nonetheless, the faculty does serve as a major training ground of Japan's administrative elite. In fact, that was its original mission when it was first established in the early Meiji period. To paraphrase Hata Ikuhiko, a 1956 graduate of Todai's law faculty and a former bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry, it is as natural for a Todai law graduate to choose a career in the government bureaucracy as it is for a graduate of an arts school to become a painter and for a graduate of a merchant-marine school to become a ship's officer.^[28]

The historical dimension merits a little more elaboration. The University of Tokyo was created in 1877, the tenth year of the Meiji reign, by the merger of Tokyo Kaisei School and Tokyo Medical School. At first, there were only four faculties—law, science, literature, and medicine—but those of engineering and agriculture were added after the name of the university was changed to the Imperial University (Teikoku Daigaku) in 1886. Actually, the term "faculty" (gakubu ) was replaced by "college" (daigaku ) from 1886 to 1919, when gakubu reappeared. In 1887 the Imperial University's college of law (Hoka Daigaku) was elevated to a privileged position: the president of the entire university was required by law to serve concurrently as its dean, and he was empowered to supervise the five other law schools that had sprung up in Tokyo. This latter' power, however, was rescinded after a little more than a year. More important, graduates of the Imperial University college of law were exempt from the bar examination (later the judicial examination) as well as from administrative (higher civil-service) examinations. With the establishment of a second imperial university in Kyoto in 1897, Todai's name was changed to Tokyo Imperial University. The privilege of exemption from the judicial examination was extended to Kyoto law graduates until it was abolished in 1923. Meanwhile, the privilege of exemption from the administrative examinations was terminated in 1894.^[29]

During the American Occupation, Todai was reorganized. Apart from the deletion of the adjective "Imperial" from its name, there was a

[28] Hata, Kanryo no kenkyu ;, p. 224.

[29] "Tokyo Daigaku no hyakunen" Henshu linkai, Tokyo Daigaku no byakunen, 1877-1977 , pp. 85-92; on the privileges of imperial-university law graduates, consult Spaulding, Imperial Japan's Higher Civil Service Examinations , pp. 39, 59-60, 91-98, 129-130, and 156.

fundamental restructuring of Todai's curriculum, of which the single most important component was the introduction of a two-year "general-education" (kyoyo ;) sequence. A new faculty of general education (kyoyo gakubu ) was established in Komaba by merging the First Higher School (Daiichi Koto Gakko) and Tokyo Higher School.^[30]

All entering students are required to spend two years on the Komaba campus taking courses in "general education" before moving to their respective faculties in Hongo. For those who choose to get their degrees in "general education," however, a wide array of advanced courses in the humanities, area studies, social sciences, and natural sciences is available in Komaba. In other words, not only does the faculty of general education serve as a preparatory school for all Todai students but it has also become a full-fledged faculty in its own right. During their two years in Komaba, all students are required to take a minimum of two courses each in the "human and literary sciences" (jinbun kagaku ), the social sciences (shakai kagaku ), and the natural sciences (shizen kagaku ). In addition, they are required to take two foreign languages, including English. The "human and literary sciences" encompass not only philosophy, history, and literature but also psychology, anthropology, geography, and education, and the social sciences include law, political science, economics, statistics, sociology, history of social thought, and international relations.^[31]

As a general rule, students aspiring to enter the faculty of law must have passed entrance examinations for Humanities Group 1 (bunka ichirui ), one of six groups into which all entering students are divided. In terms of difficulty of admission, Humanities Group 1, which has a quota of 630, shares the top position with Science Group 3 (rika sanrui ), whose students are bound for the faculty of medicine. Whereas all Humanities Group 1 students who wish to do so automatically advance to the faculty of law upon completion of two years of required work in Komaba, others must face stiff competition. Only ten or so outsiders (those from the other groups) are admitted on the basis of their grade-point average during the first three terms in Komaba.^[32]

[30] Tokyo Daigaku no hyakunen , p. 97; Tokyo Daigaku Kyoyo Gakubu, Kyoyo Gakubu no sanjunen, 1949-1979 [Thirty Years of the Faculty of General Education, 1949-1979] (Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai, 1979); Sakurai Tsuneji, Todai seikatsu, 1953-nenban [Life at the University of Tokyo, 1953 Edition] (Tokyo: Gendai Shichosha, 1952), pp. 41-46.

[31] Daigaku Sogo Kenkyu Shirizu Kikaku Henshu Iinkai, ed., Tokyo Daigaku sogo kenkyu ; [A Comprehensive Study of the University of Tokyo] (Tokyo: Nihon Rikuruto Sentaà Shuppanbu, 1979), pp. 68-71; Tokyo Daigaku Kyoyo Gakubu, Kyoyo Gakubu no sanjunen ;, pp. 158-59.

[32] Tokyo Daigaku sogo kenkyu ;, pp. 74-76; Kokuritsu Daigaku Kyokai et al., eds., Kokkoritsu daigaku gaidobukku 1985 [Guide Book for National and Public Universities, 1985] (Tokyo: Kokuritsu Daigaku Kyokai, Koritsu Daigaku Kyokai, Daigaku Nyushi Sentaà, 1984), pp. 224-25.

Strictly speaking, specialized training begins not in the third year but in the second year for most students. Those who are bound for the faculty of law, for example, start taking such courses as constitutional law, criminal law, and civil law as early as in their third semester. When they move to the Hongo campus, they must choose among three departments in the faculty of law: the First Department (private law), the Second Department (public law), and the Third Department (political science). None of these departments has a quota, and students are allowed to transfer from one to another freely. Generally speaking, those aspiring to a career in law join the First Department and those aiming for a civil-service career opt for the Second Department. These two departments usually draw the largest number of students.^[33]

In order to graduate from the faculty of law, all students must complete at least ninety units (one unit typically consists of one hour of classroom work per week for fifteen weeks), including all of the required courses (hisshu kamoku ) and four units of "elective required courses" (sentaku hisshu kamoku ). Table 27 comprises all of the required courses for the three departments in the faculty. Only five courses, totaling eighteen units, are required of all students regardless of their departmental affiliation: Constitutional Law I and II and Civil Law I, II, and III. Beyond that, requirements reflect the differing foci of the three departments. The First Department, whose students major in private law, requires the whole gamut of laws except administrative law and international law, whereas the Second Department, with its focus on public law, requires eight units each of administrative law and international law, in addition to four units each of criminal law and political science. Students of the Third Department are freed from any further requirements in law courses; instead, they are asked to concentrate on political science, political and diplomatic history, public administration, and public finance.

As for "elective required courses," all students are required to take four units from a specified group of courses. Private-law majors must choose from a set of Anglo-American Law I, French Law I, and German

[33] Tokyo Daigaku Ichiran ; [Catalogue of the University of Tokyo] (Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai, 1953), pp. 141-59; The University of Tokyo Catalogue 1980-81 (Tokyo: University of Tokyo, 1980), pp. 47-54; Sakurai, Todai seikatsu , pp. 146-48; Tokyo Daigaku, Hogakubu benran, kyoran-yo ; [A Handbook of the Faculty of Law, Display Copy] (Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku, 1987), pp. 83-84 and 100-101.

Law I, each of which is worth four units. Public-law majors are also given the preceding three courses and two additional ones: Public Administration and Public Finance. Finally, political-science majors have the least amount of latitude, for they must choose either Principles of Economics or Modern Economic Theory.^[34]

Once these two sets of requirements are out of the way, students may take virtually any courses that are offered in the faculty, although, technically, elective courses are grouped into two categories for students

[34] Tokyo Daigaku, Hogakubu benran , 1987, pp. 90-95.

in each department. Because of the large number of courses listed and their variety, students are given ample choices. Basically, the whole gamut of law-related courses as well as courses in political science and economics are available to students. Hence they not only receive varying doses of legal training but also become exposed to the historical, theoretical, and institutional underpinnings of the Japanese and foreign political and economic systems.

What we have described above are the formal requirements and options that Todai law students face. Whether and to what extent these opportunities for learning will actually enrich their intellectual repertoire, broaden their horizons, and shape their values will hinge on such factors as the motivation of individual students and the amount of effort expended. An important stumbling block to intellectual growth appears to be the paucity of stimuli for independent thinking. Most courses are delivered in large lecture halls that provide few opportunities for individual contacts between instructors and students. Some of the required courses are conducted in rooms capable of accommodating five hundred or more students, in which the use of a microphone by the instructor is a necessity. In this respect, according to a former Todai law student, the situation in Todai's law faculty is as bad as or perhaps worse than that at private universities that are notorious for their "mass production" approach to education.^[35]

To be fair, opportunities for student-teacher interaction and for independent research are not totally absent. For example, a sizable number of seminars (enshu ;) are offered each semester on analysis of court decisions in the various branches of law, readings in foreign-language scholarly books, and research on specialized topics. Because the size of these seminars is deliberately kept small, enrollment can sometimes be difficult. The official handbook of Todai's faculty of law underscores the importance of these seminars, even though all of them are optional.^[36]

Insofar as motivation and effort are concerned, there is one over-arching reality: preoccupation with grades and examinations. By most accounts, Todai law students tend to be predominantly career-oriented. Because grades earned in college have a direct bearing on the probability of landing attractive jobs upon graduation, there is a keen competition

[35] Ikeda Shin'ichi, "Binbonin no ko wa Todai ni hairenai" [Children of the Poor Cannot Get into the University of Tokyo] in Kyoiku tokuhon: Tokyo Daigaku [Readings on Education: The University of Tokyo] (Tokyo: Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 1983), p. 199.

[36] Tokyo Daigaku, Hogakubu benran , 1987, pp. 98-99.

to earn as many yu ; (A) as possible.^[37] This means that unlike the situation in Komaba, classes on the Hongo campus are well attended, even though attendance is never taken. In classes that begin at 8:30 A.M. , many students arrive early in order to get choice front-row seats.

Closely related to this is the preoccupation with national examinations. A majority of Todai law students take either the judicial examination or the higher civil-service examination or both, which require a great deal of preparation. As noted previously, the judicial examination is so difficult that only a handful of students pass it on their first try. Hence it calls for a prolonged period of intensive study. Although the higher civil-service examination is appreciably less demanding, it too requires careful planning and disciplined preparation. Because there is a considerable overlap in the subjects covered by both examinations, many students prepare for and take both. The price they pay is said to be a "triangular pattern of life" (sankakukei no seikatsu ) that is bounded by the classrooms, the library, and the boarding house. Daily routines for these students consist of going to classes, studying in the library until it closes at night, and returning to the boarding house, where more time is spent on study.^[38]

As seasoned veterans of "examination wars" (juken senso ;), most Todai law students can not only survive the rigors of such life but also thrive on it. Nonetheless, their "triangular" life leaves very little room for extracurricular activities and can be excruciatingly tedious. Small wonder that Todai's law faculty is often referred to as a desert (hogakubu sabaku ).^[39] But the skills that are necessary to win such "examination wars" are not necessarily creative thinking and critical

[37] Todai law students refer to yu ; (A) as sho ; (victory) and ryo ; (B) as hai ; (defeat). See Masuda Reiko, "Shin hana monogatari: Todai Hogakuba joshi gakusei no tabiji" [New Tale of Flowers: Journey of a Woman Student in the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law] in Konaka Yotaro, ed., Todai Hogakubu: Soho kyozo to jitsuzo ; [The University of Tokyo Faculty of Law: Myths and Reality] (Tokyo: Gendai Hyoronsha, 1978), p. 85; Shimizu, Tokyo Daigaku Hogakubu ;, p. 134. There are five grades at Todai's Law Faculty: yu ; (A), ryojo ; (B+), ryo ; (B), ka (C), and fuka (fail). Tokyo Daigaku, Hogakubu benran , 1987, p. 88.

[38] Mikawa Yoichiro, "Todaisei ga mite kita Todaisei" [University of Tokyo Students As Observed by a University of Tokyo Student], in Ito Satoru, ed., Todaisei hakusho [White Paper on University of Tokyo Students] (Tokyo: Sobokusha, 1981), p. 182; Yamane Kazuro, "Aru gakusei seikatsu" [The Life of a Certain Student] in Konaka, ed., Todai Hogakubu ;, p. 70. See also the articles by four former Todai law students in Juken Shinpo Henshubu, ed., Watashi no totta kokka jokyu shiken toppaho ;, pp. 60-71,110-21, 134-57.

[39] Masuda, "Shin hana monogatari," p. 83; Y. N. Sei, "Hongo karano tsushin: Hogakubu hen" [News from Hongo: The Faculty of Law] in Ito, ed., Todaisei hakusho , p. 107.

modes of analysis but good memory and problem-solving ability. Even though it is committed to the lofty objective of "producing individuals who are equipped not only with broad perspectives linking the past and the future to the present but also with knowledge that is at once deep and erudite,"^[40] Todai's law faculty may actually turn out narrow-minded technicians well versed in the fine points of legal theories and interpretation and supremely adept at taking examinations. As one writer put it, Todai law graduates who become elite bureaucrats "can see the trees but not the forest."^[41]

Two caveats are in order. First, these are broad generalizations to which numerous exceptions can be found. Second, they pertain primarily to the last two years of Todai law students, for the first two years on the Komaba campus offer abundant opportunities for extracurricular activities. Not only are there numerous clubs and circles encompassing a wide array of interests and hobbies, but the academic work load is said to be relatively light.^[42] Moreover, for Humanities Group 1 students, who are virtually assured of admission to the faculty of law after two years, there is little or no pressure to earn good grades in their courses. On the other hand, many students must work part time, typically as private tutors to high-school students preparing for university entrance examinations, and that is bound to impose constraints on their time. This condition may last throughout their university years.

Generally speaking, however, Todai students tend to come from relatively affluent families. Children of professional and managerial people are vastly overrepresented in the Todai student body, whereas those of farmers and sales people are grossly underrepresented. This reflects the fact that preparing for Todai's entrance examinations is an expensive proposition, frequently necessitating attendance at supplementary (juku ) and preparatory schools (yobiko ;) and hiring private tutors. A recent survey by Todai's Office of Student Affairs showed that over half of Todai students had some experience with juku, yobiko ;, or private tutors. Moreover, the list of the top ten or twenty high schools that produced successful applicants to Todai in recent years is dominated by private high schools and schools attached to national universi-

[40] Tokyo Daigaku sogo kenkyu ;, p. 86; Yamane, "Am gakusei seikatsu," p. 41.

[41] Okura Hisaro, "Okurasho to Todai Hogakubu" [The Finance Ministry and the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law] in Konaka, ed., Todai Hogakubu ;, p. 145.

[42] For a list of student "circles" at Todai, see Ito, ed., Todaisei hakusho , pp. 160-67. Table 3 (pp. 162-67) shows that nearly three-quarters of the circles are affiliated with the Faculty of General Education in Komaba.

ties, all of which tend to be appreciably more expensive than public high schools.^[43] On the other hand, the cost of attending Todai or any other national university is generally lower than that of attending a private university. In 1987, the estimated mean expenses of first-year students were 1,550,000 yen for national universities and 1,950,000 yen for private universities.^[44]

Given their social background, it is not surprising that the values of Todai students tend to be somewhat status-quo affirming. The data presented in the first column of table 28 are based on a survey of first-year Todai students who were enrolled in a political-science course on the Komaba campus. According to the instructor of the course, most of them were bound for the faculty of law. The table shows that there is a discernible conservative trend: whereas the Japan Socialist party was the favorite among the 1977 sample, the Liberal-Democratic party emerged at the top among the 1983 group. Although over half of the 1983 group who were willing to express a preference for a political party chose the ruling party, the proportion still lagged behind that of the general public, not to mention the bureaucrats.

The second half of the table is based on self-identification by the respondents. Here again, comparison of the first two columns discloses a conservative trend, with the proportion of Todai students describing themselves as either "progressive" or "somewhat progressive" declining by 33 percent. On the other hand, the 1983 group was evenly split between self-styled liberals and conservatives. Moreover, compared with the general public, the 1983 students were both more liberal and more conservative at the same time, for the general public chose by and large to describe their political orientation as "moderate."^[45]

Other parts of the survey not summarized in the table merit brief mention. Regarding Japan's security policy—specifically, military

[43] Ikeda, "Binbonin no ko," pp. 199-201; Inoguchi Takashi and Kabashima Ikuo, "Todai ichinensei no seiji ishiki: Genjo kotei no hensachi sedai" [Political Consciousness of University of Tokyo Freshmen: "Hensachi" Generation That Affirms the Status Quo], Chuo koron , Dec. 1983, pp. 63-64. "Hensachi" literally means "the value of deviations." It refers to a type of standardized score that can predict a student's chances of passing entrance examinations to specific high schools and universities. For a discussion of "hensachi," see NHK Shuzaihan, Nihon no joken, 11: Kyoiku, 2 —hensachi ga Nihon no mirai o shihai suru [Japan's Condition, 11: Education, 2—Hensachi Dominates the Future of Japan] (Tokyo: Nihon Hoso Shuppan Kyokai, 1983).

[44] Asahi shinbun , 19 Jan. 1987. Since the exchange rate between the Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar fluctuated between 120:1 and 150:1 in 1987, these figures were equivalent to $10,333-$12,916 and $13,000-$16,250, respectively.

[45] The Japanese term for "moderate" used in the survey was chudo ;, which literally means "the middle road."

spending and security cooperation with the United States—and the status of the Emperor in the political system, Todai students expressed an overwhelming approval of the status quo. In fact, the degree to which they opposed any change in the status quo was much higher than that of the general public. Ninety-six percent of Todai students opposed the idea of giving the Emperor a substantial say in politics, whereas only about 40 percent of the general public did so. Almost a third of the latter

had no opinion on the matter. On issues dealing with the rights of workers, social welfare, and sexual equality, however, the students tended to be somewhat more conservative than the general public. Whereas 62 percent of the general public favored giving more decision-making powers to workers in matters that are important to them, 57 percent of Todai students did so. On pensions and medical care for the aged, 72 percent of the general public thought that they should receive top priority regardless of budgetary constraints; 55 percent of Todai students concurred in this view. Finally, whereas 37 percent of the general public agreed with the statement that "the government ought to have a special mechanism for increasing the number of women in higher positions and better jobs," only 28 percent of Todai students did so.^[46]

The preceding data, it should be stressed, do not indicate that Todai students hold conservative views in an absolute sense. Rather, the data show that while the students tend to be somewhat more conservative than the general public on most issues, their overall position cannot be characterized as conservative. On social issues they tend to take fairly progressive positions. It may even be argued that the students display egalitarian values. Unfortunately, the data cited here do not permit us to make any inferences about the actual impact of the socialization experiences of Todai students in general and of Todai law students in particular.