Message from the Director
The Global Legal Innovation (GLI) Education and Research Center is an academic hub established with the Graduate School of Law at its core, in collaboration with the Graduate School of Business Administration, the Graduate School of Social Sciences, the Graduate School of Social Data Science, the School of International and Public Policy, and the Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Studies (HIAS). We promote world-class education and research in close cooperation with domestic and international academic institutions, international organizations, governments, and industry.
In contemporary society, global challenges such as the SDGs are mounting. Legal scholarship that relies solely on the legal systems or cultures of a single country can no longer adequately respond to these challenges. Instead, law must leverage its expertise while integrating knowledge from other social science fields, in order to envision and propose new rules that contribute to solving global issues. The Center establishes “Open Legal Studies” as its foundation and develops education and research in an integrated manner.
The Center focuses on four key themes—① Global Law and Technology, ② Global Business Law, ③ Global Access to Justice, and ④ Global Partnership—while providing diverse educational opportunities such as English-language seminars and workshops, internships, and double-degree programs. Through these initiatives, we foster individuals who possess a deep understanding of global legal issues and the capacity to design new rules—namely, “GLI Experts”—who can contribute to academia, international organizations, and private enterprises worldwide.
Our goal is to break away from the closed nature of traditional Japanese legal studies and to create new “knowledge” through truly open global education and research. We are confident that these achievements will open new horizons for Japanese legal scholarship, enhance the international presence of Hitotsubashi University, and ultimately contribute to the advancement of both academia and practice in Japan.
We sincerely ask for your continued understanding and support.
Global Legal Innovation Education and Research Center
Director
Ichiro Kobayashi