Doshisha Law School is housed in the Kambai-kan, which is easily accessible to the central area of Kyoto city via around ten minutes ride on a subway from JR Kyoto station. The Kyoto Imperial Palace and temples are located in the neighborhood, where students are able to go for a stroll and refresh themselves between classes. Classrooms are on the second floor of Kambai-kan, with a study hall, library, and information research room on the fourth floor, and faculty offices, another study hall, the Academic Advisors’ Office, and communal student work space on the fifth. On the ground floor is a cafe restaurant open to students as well as to the general public. Because of high academic requirements and the Q&A sessions that occasionally continue beyond class time, students often have no time to leave the Kambai-kan for lunch. Busy students may buy boxed lunches on the ground floor during lunch time.
In the classrooms used for seminars, student seats are arranged in U-shape so that students can have multi-directional / two-way discussions face-to-face with their professors and other students. In classrooms used for lectures, seats are arranged in a fan-shape in order to accommodate interactive classes.
In the moot court classroom, four cameras are used to film students as they act out their roles. Students are given advice as they watch these videos with their instructors.
Via the Doshisha wireless LAN, students may also gain access to the world’s major online databases, as well as the school’s internal online database, from within their classrooms.
Each student is assigned a personal carrel with a small locker for their exclusive use. The study halls in which these carrels are located are accessible 24 hours a day. As in the classrooms, students may use their own PC to connect to the college LAN.
To ensure that students are able to focus on their studies around the clock, the utmost attention is given to security. Access to study halls and the library is at all times restricted to students, faculty and staff having an authorized card key. At night and on holidays, access to all law school areas is similarly limited. A team of security guards is on the premises 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
One of the key elements of training at any law school is encouraging students to use independent study groups to extract the essence of an issue by clarifying points through discussion. Every year, the shared research room is used for a variety of independent study activities by different student groups.
5 PCs and one printer are provided for use by students to do research and edit and print their work product. Media support staff are available to answer inquiries that students might have concerning the equipment and provide troubleshooting support. Access to a variety of on-line database services is provided, including Hein-on-line, Westlaw.com, Lexis.com, beck-online and Juris-online, as well as access to the LLI, TKC, D1-Law and Westlaw Japan information support systems.
At the library, a group of qualified librarians are available during the day to be of service to students and faculty. To offer the best possible environment for students, they make it their goal to process every request from users as quickly as possible, while providing user information and tips concerning the use of the various services. The library is open day and night on weekdays, also to the evening on Saturday and Sunday.
All faculties of Doshisha University have introduced the DUET learning support system and e-class e-learning system, and both systems are available at our law school as well. These IT tools make it possible to electronically conduct and manage a variety of academic tasks including both presentation and assignment. Some faculty members correct and return student’s paper only in electronic format.
