Meiji University was founded in January 1881 as the Meiji Law School by a group of young lawyers. Meiji University has evolved into one of the most prominent privately-funded universities in Japan, celebrating its 130th anniversary in 2011. Our guiding principles are Rights, Liberty, Independence and Self-government.
Meiji University currently consist 10 undergraduate schools, 16 graduate schools and 4 professional schools including the Graduate School of Governance Studies. The university has four campuses: Surugadai, Izumi, Ikuta and Nakano Campuses.
The Surugadai Campus is at the heart of historic Meiji University. Regular classes for the graduate schools are held in Academy Common Building in Surugadai. The building opened in April 2004 primarily for continuing education center open to the community; it has eleven floors above ground and two basement levels and is fully equipped with state-of-the-art technology. Access to the campus is excellent, with the nearby Japan Railway service and five subway lines making it an easy commute for busy professionals.
Meiji University is one of the thirteen universities selected by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for its “Global 30” Project for Establishing Core Universities for Internationalization. The MEXT provides grants for five years to Meiji for educating international students through courses taught in English.
From Government to Governance:
Toward a New Ideal of Society based on Collaboration among Diverse Individuals and Organizations
The three focus areas (Public Policy, International Development Policy, Community Planning and Management) of the Graduate School of Governance Studies aim at providing support to policy-making by government agencies and community residents through research and education in public policy studies. It produces professionals with specialized knowledge and global perspectives. The Programs are designed for those who have experience in government at the local level, in international cooperation or similar areas. The English track program is primarily for international students, including those sponsored by their own governments, those granted the Human Resource Development Scholarship by Japanese Grant Aid (JDS) or MEXT scholarships, and long-term trainees under Japan’s official development assistance program.
The term “Public Policy” refers to the creation of policies by gathering data and analyzing it for determining the status of policy issues both domestically and internationally. In policy formulation and deployment, experts take a fresh look at conventional policy and decision-making processes to see how they can be improved, often incorporating, citizen's interests. Policy-makers conduct simulations to test the feasibility of policy goals, check negative effects through experimental projects, identifying their causes, and make adjustments accordingly. Finally, whether at an end point or on an ongoing basis, they observe the outcomes and evaluate the policy.
The curriculum of the Graduate School of Governance Studies is organized along the same line as such steps of policy making and implementation processes. It provides a streamlined curriculum for the students to build the skills of creating, implementing, and assessing policy. Our courses are grouped into four core fields: Basic subjects - Policy, administration, management (Field A); Basic subjects - Economic, finance, development (Field B); Applied Policy Study (Field C), in which students conduct research through case studies, and Practical Seminars (Field D), including guidance on writing research papers and improving presentation skills.
The Graduate School of Governance Studies strives for providing professional education with focus on practical knowledge and technical expertise, as well as reshaping the academic discipline of public policy studies into a holistic science that integrates the existing fields of politic public administration, economics, public finance, and administrative law.
Our Professional Master's degree program aims at preparing professional practitioners and researchers with an advanced level of knowledge governance and public policy. In order to obtain the degree, students must possess (1) a high level of specialized knowledge of disciplines in various fields of governance and policy studies, and (2) the ability to apply that knowledge to solving real problems.
Our ultimate goal is to produce graduates who have a good command of policy-making and implementation skills necessary for resolving the complex problems in this diversified and borderless society.
A variety of interesting field research trips are organized by the school. These trips provide opportunities for the English-track students to observe the actual public policy in practice at both national and local government agencies. The field trips are also an occasion to interact directly with the real Japanese practitioners who can share professional and hands-on experiences. Through the field research trips, students will enjoy the learning experience through Japanese cases. In addition, they will develop a better understanding of Japanese society and culture.
The Graduate School of Public Policy offers courses in three concentration areas: Public Policy, International Development Policy, and Community Planning and Management. In each of these areas, major topics of immediate relevance to contemporary world issues - including decentralization, “good enough governance,” citizen participation, sustainable development, economic development cooperation, regional development, and poverty reduction are discussed in a wide range of courses offered by our faculty members.
(1) Public Policy
This area is about public policy processes, from identifying issues to formulating, implementing, and evaluating policy options. The knowledge and expertise in policy processes, including theories in political science, public administration, and organizational management fields are growing their importance in the field of public policy.
(2) International Development Policy
Drawing on disciplines concerned with international economics and the environment, this focal area encourages students to analyze global issues of sustainable development and poverty reduction from different perspectives on social systems. While market-driven development policies has achieved economic prosperity in many societies, they have also exacerbated global problems such as environmental degradation and income disparity.
(3) Community Planning and Management
Community is the field of practice where governance comes most closely in contact with people's lives. Community Planning and Management area is organized around the process of making, implementing, and evaluating policies for resolving global issues from local perspectives. It also focuses on crisis management and the role of the community in responding to natural disasters and terrorism, which have been increasing in recent years.
In order to obtain the Master's degree from Meiji's Graduate School of Governance Studies, students are required to submit a "research paper." Each international student is assigned to a "zemi" group supervised by one of faculty members and receives hands-on guidance for conducting research and writing the paper.
Research Method
In these seminar courses, first-year students choose a governance public administration related topic and conduct their own research. Through reviewing the relevant literature, students will acquire skills for theoretical studies and policy analysis. This process will guide the student towards the appropriateness of their definition of the topic.
Research Paper
These seminar courses focus on writing academic papers. Each of second year students learns to construct a theoretical framework and employ research methods, data analysis techniques, and related skills for writing a research papers on his or her own research topics.
Thesis Workshop
Thesis workshops are organized for all international students at the Graduate School of Governance Studies. This workshop provides students with an opportunity to critique one another’s work and engage in intellectual exchange on their approach to governance studies and their theoretical and research procedures.
English Language Academic Writing
We offer a range of English academic communication and writing support courses, workshops and tutoring for international students whose first language is not English. These are taught by native speaking instructors, experienced in English academic support course development.
The Graduate School of Governance Studies offers courses in three concentration areas: Public Policy, International Development Policy, and Community Planning and Management. In each of these areas, major topics of immediate relevance to contemporary world issues - including decentralization, “good enough governance,” citizen participation, sustainable development, economic development cooperation, regional development, and poverty reduction are discussed in a wide range of courses offered by our faculty members.
Subject offered in English are listed as below.
| Public Policy | Governance Studies Intergovernmental Relations Urban Spatial Policy Introduction to Public Policy Analysis Evaluation Theory and Practice Comparative Local Government TQM in Public Sector Spatial Planning Public Financial Management Public Finance Tax Policy and Tax Administration Macroeconomics A/B Microeconomics A/B Econometrics A/B Current Development in Public Policy and Management Public Policy Policy Evaluation Comparative Public Administration Comparative Study of Corruption Japanese Local Government (Management) Japanese Local Government (Finance) Japanese Economic Policy Japanese Foreign and Development Policy |
| International Development Policy | Government and Politics in Developing Countries Global Governance (Theory) Global Governance (Institutions) Politics and Economics in East Asia Environment and Economics Japanese Economy in International Environment Political Economy of Development Theories and Experience of the Developmental State SDGs and International Peace Studies Private Sector Development Business, Policy and Environment Environmental Governance Environmental Management Environmental Assessment Comparative and International Education |
| Community Planning and Management | QM in Japanese Public Sector Negotiation in the Public Sector NGO/NPO Policy NGO/NPO Management Social Policy Social Development Social Welfare System Consensus Building in the Public Sector Human Resource Management Leadership Theory and Practice Urban Design Introducing Spatial Planning in Tokyo Terrorism and Political Violence Crisis Management and Public Administration National Security and Intelligence Community Engagement and Facilitation Community Welfare Service Japanese Education in Comparative Perspective |
We have 13 professors who are able to supervise international students in English. Advisers are assigned at the faculty meeting before the arrival of JDS Fellows, considering their proposed research plan and expertise of advisers.
Faculty Members
As of June 19, 2020
| Course Instructor | Subjects |
|---|---|
| Yuriko Minamoto, Ph.D. (Professor) |
Evaluation Theory and Practice Social Development Current Development in Public Policy and Management Research Method 1,2 Research Paper 1,2 |
| Yuichi Sasaoka , Ph.D (Professor) |
Government and Politics in Developing Countries Global Governance (Theory) Global Governance (Institutions) Japanese Foreign and Development Policy Research Method 1,2 Research Paper 1,2 |
| Makoto Nagahata (Dean / Professor) |
NGO/NPO Policy NGO/NPO Management Human Resource Management Community Engagement and Facilitation Research Method 1,2 Research Paper 1,2 |
| Hideaki Tanaka, Dr. (Professor) |
Public Financial Management Public Finance Research Method 1,2 Research Paper 1,2 |
| Masahiro Matsuura, Ph.D. (Professor) |
Urban Spatial Policy Introduction to Public Policy Analysis Negotiation in the Public Sector Consensus Building in the Public Sector Research Method 1,2 Research Paper 1,2 |
| Shunsuke Kimura, Ph.D. (Professor) |
Japanese Local Government (Management) Japanese Local Government (Finance) Research Method 1,2 Research Paper 1,2 |
| Ryuta Ray Kato, Ph.D. (Professor) |
Macroeconomics A / B Microeconomics A / B Econometrics A / B Research Method 1,2 Research Paper 1,2 |
| Kiyoshi Kobayashi (Professor) |
Spatial Planning Introducing Spatial Planning in Tokyo |
| Junro Nishide (Professor) |
TQM in Public Sector QM in Japanese Public Sector Research Method 1,2 Research Paper 1,2 |
| Taku Okabe (Professor) |
Community Welfare Service |
| Masami Tsuji, Ph.D. (Professor) |
Environmental Governance Environmental Management Environmental Assessment Research Method 1,2 Research Paper 1,2 |
| Yoshiki Kobayashi, Ph.D. (Professor) |
Terrorism and Political Violence National Security and Intelligence Research Method 1,2 Research Paper 1,2 |
| Akiko Hayashi, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor) |
Comparative and International Education Japanese Education in Comparative Perspective Qualitative Research Methods Masters Thesis Development Analyzing and Writing in Qualitative Research |
| Semester | Class duration | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Period | Fall 2021 | From September 20th 2021 to February 3rd 2022 |
| 2nd Period | Spring 2022 | From April 4th 2022 to July 31st 2022 |
| 3rd Period | Fall 2022 | From September 20th 2022 to February 3rd 2023 |
| The last Period | Spring 2023 | From April 4th 2023 to July 31st 2023 (Reference) *Graduation Ceremony (September 19th) |
※Dates are subject to change each year.
Meiji University may not be able to provide dormitory for international students of Graduate School of Governance Studies.
How do you see Japan? You may think it is one of highly developed countries with well-established economy, sophisticated infrastructure, educated population, and stable society. It might be true. However, it is also another reality that Japan has been facing various urgent problems – aging society with less number of children, de-population in rural area with overconcentration to big cities, hollowed-out domestic industries, deterioration of local communities, weakening family ties, and vulnerability against natural disasters. As the country developed, it has been facing negative side of modernization. So, you can see Japan as a country with highly “advanced” social challenges.
Of course, we are not standing idly without doing anything. Rather, many actors, central / local governments, private companies, non-profits, local communities, and ordinary citizens have been practicing various activities in order to overcome those problems. Some of them have failed, but others have resulted with positive change in our society. One of key factors for success is “collaboration”, creating effective measures through partnership building and working together among various stakeholders.
In this modernized world, public policy cannot be formulated and implemented only by professional policy makers. Involvement of various stakeholders is an urgent issue for all of us, but how? As the title of our school “Governance Studies”, not “Government Studies” shows, the Graduate School of Governance Studies of Meiji University offers courses with wide range of topics necessary to be studied for public policy of “post modernization” societies. The courses are divided in three areas: Public Policy, International Development Policy, and Community Management. In each of these areas, major topics of contemporary world issues such as decentralization, citizen participation, sustainable development, globalization, and poverty reduction are discussed with our faculty members who has professional experience and knowledge in both theory and practice.
We would like to welcome all of you who are motivated to contribute to the society by playing leading roles in public sector. Our school also offers opportunities for mutual learning among students and teachers from all over the world even after completion of our program. Please be a member of our “Governance Family”.
Makoto Nagahata
Dean, Graduate School of Governance Studies
Copyright © 2020 JICE All Rights Reserved.
