The Department of Private Law covers a wide range of areas, from the fundamentals of legal theory within and outside Japan to recent developments in specialist fields, and is designed to nurture legal specialists with the ability to work at the heart of future society, such as: researchers with superlative research capabilities; civil servants capable of contributing to international society; corporate law specialists with the ability to resolve disputes quickly and efficiently; graduates with an extensive grounding in legal theory who wish to continue on to Law School; and highly experienced and diligent international specialist lawyers. At the Department, we provide general instruction on broad themes through seminars led by faculty members specializing in law, as well as personal instruction to each graduate student on how to conduct research based on a certain research theme. Roughly 50 lectures are given in connection with research at seminars known as the "General Seminar on Private Law," at which several faculty members give lectures on topical themes (including visiting faculty from abroad) in an omnibus format. Based on the knowledge learned there, students conduct research on court precedents and are taught how to write a thesis in the seminar entitled "Research Methodology," which focuses mainly on research methods of references from Japan, U.K., U.S., France, Germany, and Asia, as well as comments on writing academic papers. Thereafter, faculty members provide research instructions to students and help them complete their theses.

Research and education in the Graduate School of Law are primarily delivered in lecture and seminar format in accordance with the given curriculum. In both settings, the number of students is small. A key feature of the curriculum is the availability, in addition to major-specific subjects, of numerous general subjects, including important subjects that form the foundation for legal and political science research in each major area.