Hosei University

The history of Hosei University begins in 1880 (year 13 of the Meiji era) when the non-governmental lawyers Kanamaru Magane, Ito Osamu, and Satta Masakuni established the Tokyo Hogakusha (Tokyo School of Law) at 19 Kita Koga Machi, Surugadai, Tokyo. In 1880, a penal code and criminal procedure law which were forerunners of modern Japanese laws were introduced, and the birth of Tokyo School of Law was in response to the trends of the time which saw an upsurge in individual freedom movements and began the development of the modern legal system.
Since its establishment the Tokyo School of Law never been simply a center for law instruction, but has also featured a "daigensha", proxy speaker association (the original terminology for Japanese lawyers being "daigennin" or "proxy speaker") where "on the job" legal training was carried out, and has always been more of a "gakusha", learning association or society" which cultivates legal experts than simply a "school", and has always given great consideration to the establishment of freedom and the advancement of national society through its in-service training activities. It can thus be seen that the practical and career training spirit that the school practices today originated in and is simply a continuation of the practices from the time of the school's founding.