Eastern-Asian Context of Reception of the Western Jurisprudence in Modern Japan: New Research on Santaro Okamatsu and Investigation of Old Customs in Taiwan

1896年至1899年，民事律师冈松三太郎（Santaro Okamatsu，1871-1921）在欧洲逗留期间，他特别在德国大学柏林和哈雷学习。通过这一研究，他有机会超越某些有限的论文或研究领域，深刻地理解19世纪世纪德国法学的主要特征。冈松所领导的台湾旧俗调查，就是以德国法理学来描述。这一课题的理论基础是近代日本忽视中国法而推崇罗马法的比较法律的理论、世纪德国法学历史学派代表人民、引领法律演进的普遍信念以及亚洲传统的国家法本位的法律观。从这个意义上说，对台湾旧俗与冈松之约的研究，呈现出一种复杂的性质。

While civil lawyer Santaro Okamatsu (1871-1921) stayed in Europe from 1896 to 1899, he studied especially at German universities, Berlin and Halle. He had a chance through this study to understand profoundly the main characters of German jurisprudence in the 19th century, beyond certain limited thesis or research fields. The investigation of old customs in Taiwan, which Okamatsu led, described them in terms of German jurisprudence. This project was based on the comparative legal theory of modern Japan, which neglected Chinese law and respected Roman law, the general conviction of historical school of German jurisprudence in the 19th century, to represent people and lead the evolution of law, and the traditional Asian view of law, that was oriented to state law. In this sense the research on old customs in Taiwan and engagements of Okamatsu revealed a complex nature.