In 2011, Kansai University will celebrate the 125th anniversary of its founding. Established in 1886 as Kansai Law School in Kyomachibori, Nishi-ku, Osaka, the University has grown into highly recognized institution with a long history and tradition spanning the 19th to 21st centuries. Continually progressing forward, the University started two new campuses, two new faculties, and one graduate school from April 2010. In April 2011, two additional graduate schools (Graduate School of East Asian Cultures and Graduate School of Governance) were established. With these additions, the University now boasts 13 faculties and 14 graduate schools (including 3 professional graduate schools). As we approach another milestone in our history, we have renewed our commitment to further growth as a leading comprehensive university.
We have to redouble our efforts to develop our institution as a "hub university", and remain a sought-after university both in Japan and internationally amid rapid globalization and an increasingly challenging environment surrounding higher education. Our intention is to continue serving as a center for education, research and social contribution activities in Japan, the Asia and Pacific region and other parts of the world.
Kansai University promotes world-level education and research activities. One such example is the Institute for Cultural Interaction Studies, which was adopted as a Global COE Program by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The Institute has pursued cultural interaction studies as a new discipline in Orientalism, and has now become a global hub for research on cultural interaction studies. At the Institution, many researchers and students from overseas, including East Asia, are actively engaged in learning and research activities, and their academic achievements are widely disseminated to the world.
The Graduate School of East Asian Cultures has been newly established as an independent graduate school, separate from the Cultural Interaction Studies Major of the Graduate School of Letters (which was established to serve as the organizational basis for the Institution's efforts to develop competent human resources), so as to allow the new graduate school to pursue its own unique direction.
Furthermore, a number of internationally recognized research projects are being undertaken in advanced fields such as "green innovation" and "life innovation". Kansai University seeks to promote education and research activities in various fields from a global perspective. The University also strives to improve the quality of education as well as contribute to the development of local communities and society at large by disseminating and applying research results.
As part of our globalization efforts, in January 2011 we established the Kansai University Shanghai Office at Fudan University, one of our partner overseas universities. This is our second overseas base, following the Kansai University Japan/EU Research Center. To become a global hub that links research institutes in and outside Japan as well as in regions around the world, we have plans to establish more overseas bases in the future.
As a leading comprehensive university in Japan, Kansai University possesses outstanding intellectual resources in education, research and various other fields. By using these resources efficiently and effectively, we will continue striving to develop ourselves as a hub university, which, like a hub airport, is connected to various regions around the world, and is where people and information converge. We are determined to develop human resources with the ability to think on their own and act autonomously and proactively, and who can contribute to the international community.
