Japan law students and faculty learn about American justice system at UH law school

Visiting Hawai'i Supreme Court Associate Justice Sabrina McKenna.

Having lunch at the William S. Richardson School of Law.

Law students and faculty from five universities in Japan have been exploring the U.S. legal and justice system in Hawai‘i as guests of the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

The annual Law Study Tour Hawai‘i is organized by faculty specialist Spencer Kimura, who directs the law school’s international and summer programs. This year brought 56 law students and eight faculty members from Aichi University in Nagoya, Aoyama Gakuin in Shibuya, Meiji University in Tokyo, University of the Ryukus in Okinawa and Waseda University in Shinjuku.

This was the largest group to date for this innovative study tour, which is organized in cooperation with the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary and the governor's office. The group visited the federal and state courts, including the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court building, Judiciary History Museum, Women's Community Correctional Center, state capitol and the law offices of Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel.

“This study tour enables our legal community to give the Japanese law students a broad introduction to the theory and practice of American law in a short period of time,” said Kimura. “Our aim is to foster good relations with the participating universities. We hope that some of their students will one day return to study in our master of laws, accelerated juris doctorate or doctor of juridical science programs.”

Also joining the visitors was an academic group from Japanese universities who were in Hawai‘i to interview law students, faculty and alumni about LGBTQI+ law and policy issues. The group of eight professors was led by Emi Yano of the University of the Ryukus.

For more information, visit: https://www.law.hawaii.edu/