Center for Education and Research on Law and Public Policy in Kumamoto

About us

LPERC stands for the Center for Education and Research on Law and Public Policy in Kumamoto. It was established on April 1, 2022 as a base for the Kumamoto University Faculty of Law to address social issues in Kumamoto.

Speaking of the general style of education at law school in Japan, each faculty has his/her own specialized fields. Based on their specialized knowledge and research area, courses are offered. While this general system helps to provide universal quality education for all law students across Japan to cultivate and deepen knowledge in specialized fields, this could lead to a homogenizing of learning. That is to say, Kumamoto University Faculty of Law must devote its efforts on cultivating creativity and uniqueness for our education and research.

Given that, LPERC aims to establish a new research method called practical social science, in which multiple faculty members collaborate to conduct research on social issues that have arisen in Kumamoto, benefiting from each faculty member's specialized subjects. Our research outcomes and findings would be utilized to improve student learning at the Faculty of Law and Graduate School of Law of Kumamoto University, as well as improving students learning of high school students with mock lectures through high school-college collaboration projects and that of Kumamoto’s citizens through civic engagement symposium. By doing this, LPERC aims to foster originality in education and research at the Faculty of Law and Graduate School of Law, Kumamoto University.

Lastly, this website aims to be an archive of LPERC's activities. Please take a look at each content and feel free to contact us if you have any requests for LPERC.

Director of the Center for Law and Public Policy Education and Research, Faculty of Law, Kumamoto University
Dean of the Faculty of Law, Kumamoto University
Nobuharu Obinata

Departments

The Regional Conflict Prevention and Resolution Division

Kumamoto is a place with major social issues that have attracted massive social attention throughout Japan, such as Hansen's disease, Minamata disease, and the issues associated with the construction of the Kawabe River Dam. In addition, major social issues that are around everywhere in Japan, such as the disputes surrounding Hansen and Minamata disease, the issues related to Japan’s “Baby Hatch (a system allowing parents who cannot raise their babies for some reasons to renounce their parenthood anonymously),” Japan’s Eugenic Sterilization based on the Eugenic Protection Act established in 1948, and problems with Technical Intern Program have become evident in Kumamoto. The Regional Conflict Prevention and Resolution Division aims to become a hub for discussing and resolving such social issues.

The Division of Regional Government Affairs

The Faculty of Law at Kumamoto University serves a wide variety of stakeholders, including high school students, central government and municipalities, professional organizations, and local enterprises. The Division of Regional Government Affairs aims to become a base for dispatching instructors to local government for the purpose of training their staff members, for offering recurrent education to workers, and for resolving various social issues in collaboration with local organizations and companies.

Support for implementing legal professional training from the Kumamoto Prefectural Bar Association

On March 14, 2023, the Kumamoto University Faculty of Law and the Kumamoto Prefectural Bar Association concluded a collaboration agreement regarding the guidance for law students on how to manage to read and draft legal documents, as well as a collaboration agreement regarding mutual specialized and practical knowledge exchange and learning. This agreement aims to maintain and to strengthen collaborative relationships between the Kumamoto University Faculty of Law and the Kumamoto Prefectural Bar Association with a specific focus on providing practical training by the Kumamoto Prefectural Bar Association in legal education for the Kumamoto University Faculty of Law. This includes dispatching faculty members from the Kumamoto University Faculty of Law to serve on various committees of the Kumamoto Prefectural Bar Association.

Courses at Kumamoto University

The Kumamoto University Faculty of Law, the Graduate School of Social and Cultural Sciences Education, the Department of Legal Politics and Conflict Resolution, and the Department of International Collaboration in Dispute Resolution use a multidisciplinary approach, called that of a “Practical Social Science” (“Practical Social Science” is a new word created by the Faculty of Law at Kumamoto University). This enables social issues and incidents in Kumamoto to be examined and analyzed from diverse perspectives that are brought by different academic disciplines. This is an original educational curriculum for Kumamoto University's Faculty of Law and Graduate School of Law, which is not available anywhere else in the country.

Similarly, our center organizes and holds symposia which focus on Kumamoto`s social issues and incidents with the application of “Practical Social Science” approach. While our focus is on Kumamoto`s social issues and incidents, these issues are not limited in Kumamoto. Rather they could exist or happen across the country.

Negotiations Dispute Resolution and Law

Course overview: This course reviews and highlights specific efforts to resolve social issues (conflicts) in Kumamoto.
Specifically, it addresses issues such as (1) discrimination against Hansen's disease, (2) the division between victims of false accusations of crime and crime victims, and (3) the issue of foreign technical intern trainees.

Research achievements

Kumamoto has social problems such as Hansen's disease and Minamata disease that are attracting attention nationwide. Furthermore, in 2016, the country was hit by the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake, and thereafter it has been hit by many natural disasters. At LPERC, we aim to cultivate and develop an academic method called practical social science, which seeks to comprehensively analyze these issues, integrating different perspectives drawn by various academic disciplines of social science such as law, politics, and economics.

For external readers

LPERC aims to disseminate information about the Kumamoto University Faculty of Law to the public, and to encourage audience to use the services provided by LPERC, the Kumamoto University Faculty of Law, and the Graduate school.

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