The Nagoya University Graduate School of Law & Faculty of Law has three historically shaped characteristics in its research and education. The first is that since the founding of the Faculty of Law in 1950, it has been engaged in research and education that should contribute to the establishment and development of human rights guarantees, democracy and pacifism as enshrined in the Constitution of Japan. This creates a distinctive trend of thought in the law and political science academia, as well as a tradition of autonomy by all members, including students, in the administration of our Graduate School & Faculty. Secondly, it has carried out leading and advanced research activities in each period, not only in the core fields of law and political science, but also in academic fields with high social demands. Today, research continues on legal and political issues related to globalization and digitalization, normative theory for the transition to a sustainable society, environmental issues, and gender issues, as well as research that integrates the humanities and sciences through the use of ICT technology. Thirdly, since the 1990s, our Graduate School & Faculty has developed internationally, with a focus on Asia and Europe. It has established research and education hubs in various regions, which are unparalleled among Japanese universities, and has worked to create an international human resource network and to enhance international research and education. As a center for comparison, exchange, and dialogue between the legal cultures of Asia and between the East and the West, we believe that our Graduate School & Faculty has a significant role to play.

We would like to continue our research and education and, based on our achievements, take on the challenges of law and politics for the future society even more proactively. The COVID-19 pandemic has also upended the very foundations of our lives. Its effects are disproportionately heavy on those who are already precarious and least able to absorb the new blows, revealing tremendous shortcomings, weaknesses, and divisions in the socio-economy. There are already debates about the new normal, but the world was far from normal before COVID-19, and our lives cannot and should not be the same after this crisis as they were before. I believe that the academic activities mentioned above of our Graduate School & Faculty will play a significant role in the reconstruction of the world based on human rights. Finally, we would like to express our gratitude for the support we have received from so many people, and we will continue to make further efforts to achieve more development in the future.