ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to follow the establishment and development of the science of international law specific to Japan, mainly from its genesis in the 1930s to the first generation of international lawyers after the Second World War. It deals with the pioneering work that established the methodological foundation of the science. The chapter looks at the search by Japanese international lawyers for the historical and socioeconomic bases of international law. It considers the viewpoint Japanese international legal science had of the transformation from traditional to contemporary international law. The chapter also looks at works that have concerned themselves with the interrelationship between international law, States and individuals. The Japanese science of international law had its foundations as a branch of social science conferred through Yokota's detailed analysis of the logical structure of international legal norms and Taoka's historical analysis of the social bases of international law.
