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

民事律师冈松三太郎(Santaro Okamatsu，1871-1921)从1896年到1899年留在欧洲，他特别在德国大学、柏林和哈雷学习。通过这项研究，他有机会超越某些有限的论文或研究领域，对19世纪德国法学的主要特征有了深刻的了解。以冈松为首的台湾旧俗调查，用德国法理来描述。这一计划的基础是近代日本忽视中国法、尊重罗马法的比较法学理论，19世纪德国法学史学派代表人民、引领法律演变的普遍信念，以及以国家法律为导向的传统亚洲法律观。从这个意义上讲，对台湾旧俗与冈松交战的研究，揭示了一个复杂的本质。

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.