Ritsumeikan University

Ritsumeikan University (ç«‹å'½é¤¨å¤§å­¦, Ritsumeikan Daigaku, abbreviated to Rits and ç«‹å'½ Ritsumei) is a private university in Kyoto, Japan, tracing its roots to 1869. With the Kinugasa Campus(KIC) in Kyoto, and Kyoto Prefecture. the university also has a satellite called Biwako-Kusatsu Campus (BKC).

Today, the university is known as one of the four leading private universities in western Japan. KAN-KAN-DO-RITS 関関同立 (Kwansei Gakuin University, Kansai University, Doshisha University, and Ritsumeikan University) is the abbreviation that many people refer to when talking about the four leading private universities in the region (of 20 million people and economy similar in size to Canada's). The school is one of the top universities in Japan, and it is especially well known for its International Relations programme which has been ranked as first place in Japan. Moreover, in today’s newspaper, it is listed as the ‘top private university in Japan for policy science’. It has exchange programmes with many schools throughout the world, including The University of British Columbia, The University of Melbourne, The University of Sydney, and University of Hong Kong. The school also has a dual bachelor's degree program and dual masters' degree programme offered in collaboration with American University, and a dual bachelor's degree programme offered in collaboration with The University of British Columbia. It has a relatively strong network of alumni in Kansai region and has produced a number of CEOs in Japanese companies as well as politicians.

Ritsumeikan University Panthers is a very strong collegiate football team in Japan and won three national champions, seven collegiate champions, and nine conference champions.

History

Ritsumeikan was first founded as a private academy in 1869 by Prince Saionji Kinmochi. In 1900, Kojuro Nakagawa (the former secretary of Prince Saionji) established the Kyoto Hosei School, a law school that eventually adopted the Ritsumeikan name (with the prince's permission) and was awarded full university status in 1922. Historically, the school was seen as a liberal alternative to the state-run Kyoto University.

The name "Ritsumeikan" comes from a Mencius quotation:

Some die young, as some live long lives. This is decided by fate. Therefore, one's duty consists of cultivating one's mind during this mortal span and thereby "establishing one's destiny". (in Japanese, ç«‹å'½, ritsumei)

The "kan" addition to "ritsumei" signifies a place.

Colleges and graduate schools (by campus)

Kinugasa Campus

In Kita-ku, Kyoto, this liberal arts-oriented campus is a roughly five-minute walk from Ryōan-ji and Kinkaku-ji temples. The campus has eight graduate schools, 17,000 undergraduate and 1,100 graduate students.

• Colleges (学部)
  • College of Law (法学部)
  • College of Social Sciences (ç"£æ¥­ç¤¾ä¼šå­¦éƒ¨)
  • College of International Relations (国際関係学部)
  • College of Policy Science (æ"¿ç­–ç§'学部)
  • College of Letters (文学部)
  • College of Image Arts and Sciences (映像学部)
• Graduate Schools (大学院)
  • Graduate school of Law (法学ç "究ç§')
  • Graduate school of Sociology (社会学ç "究ç§')
  • Graduate school of International Relations (国際関係ç "究ç§')
  • Graduate school of Policy Science (æ"¿ç­–ç§'å­¦ç "究ç§')
  • Graduate school of Letters (文学ç "究ç§')
  • Graduate school of Science for Human Services (å¿œç"¨äººé–"ç§'å­¦ç "究ç§')
  • Graduate school of Language Education and Information Science (言語教育情報ç "究ç§')
  • Graduate school of CoreEthics and Frontier Sciences (先端総合学è¡"ç "究ç§')

• Institute at Kinugasa Campus (インスティテュート)
  • Inter-faculty Institute for International Studies (国際インスティテュート)
    • International Law & Business Program (国際法務プログラム)
    • International Civil Service Program (国際公共プログラム)
    • International Community Program(国際社会プログラム)
    • International Welfare Program (国際福祉プログラム)

Suzaku Campus

In Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto. This campus houses the School of Law, Graduate School of Management, and Graduate School of Public Policy, in addition to the Ritsumeikan Academy headquarters.

• Graduate Schools (大学院)
  • Graduate School of Management (経営管理ç "究ç§')
  • Graduate School of Public Policy (公務ç "究ç§')
• Schools (専門職大学院)
  • School of Law (法務ç "究ç§')

Biwako-Kusatsu Campus (BKC)

Biwako-Kusatsu Campus is in Kusatsu, Shiga. This technology-oriented campus is southeast of Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in Japan, and is a 30-minute train ride from Kyōto Station. The campus has four undergraduate colleges, four graduate schools, 16,000 undergraduates and 1,600 graduate students.

• Colleges (学部)
  • College of Economics (経済学部) The College of Economics offers three programs pertaining to Economic Strategy, Economic Cooperation and International Economics, and Human Welfare and Economic Conditions. The curriculum integrates theory, history, and knowledge of the current state of affairs in a structured approach on a domestic and foreign scale.
  • College of Business Administration (経営学部)
  • College of Science and Engineering (理工学部)
  • College of Information Science & Engineering (情報理工学部)
  • Integrated Institute of Arts & Science (文理総合インスティテュート)
  • College of Life Sciences (ç"Ÿå'½ç§'学部)
  • College of Pharmaceutical Sciences (薬学部)
• Graduate schools (大学院)
  • Graduate School of Economics (経済学ç "究ç§')
  • Graduate School of Business Administration (経営学ç "究ç§')
  • Graduate School of Science and Engineering (理工学ç "究ç§')
  • Graduate School of Technology Management (テクノロジー・マネジメントç "究ç§')

• Institute at BKC (インスティテュート)
  • Integrated Institute for Arts and Science
    • Environment & Design Institute (ç'°å¢ƒãƒ»ãƒ‡ã‚¶ã‚¤ãƒ³ã‚¤ãƒ³ã‚¹ãƒ†ã‚£ãƒ†ãƒ¥ãƒ¼ãƒˆ)
    • Finance Institute (ファイナンス・情報インスティテュート)
    • Service Management Institute (サーãƒ"ス・マネジメントインスティテュート)

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

The Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (ç«‹å'½é¤¨ アジア 太平洋 大学, Ritsumeikan Ajia Taiheiyō Daigaku) is a private institution inaugurated April 2000 in Beppu, ÅŒita Prefecture, Japan. Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University was made possible through the collaboration of three parties from the public and private sectors: Oita Prefecture, Beppu City and the Ritsumeikan University. APU has an enrollment of just under 6,000 students. Approximately half of the students and faculty members come from overseas.

Facilities

Research Center for Disaster Mitigation Systems

Established in April 2005 on the Biwako-Kusatsu Campus, work at this center focuses on disaster mitigation using sensor systems and computer networks.

Art Research Center

Located at Kinugasa Campus, this center houses the Digital Humanities Center for Japanese Arts and Cultures, which focuses on research on Japanese art and culture using digital archives, databases and geographical information systems.

Museums

The Kyoto Museum for World Peace seeks to critically examine Japan’s militaristic past, and includes numerous exhibits ranging from the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-5 to the Iraq War.

SR center

Located at BKC campus, this center is established for research using Synchrotron Radiation.

Controversy

As of 2006, Ritsumeikan University and the General Union were in dispute over a contract system that limited employment for some educators to three years.

Notable people associated with Ritsumeikan

Famous people affiliated with Ritsumeikan University, including graduates, former students, and professors:

• Momofuku Ando (1934 College of Economics), founder of Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. who invented the world's first instant noodles and cup noodles.
• Kenichirou Satou CEO of Rohm
• Den Kawakatsu Former CEO of Nankai Electric Railway
• Takashi Haga Former chairman and executive director of Marudai Food
• Shinichiro Furumoto(1987 College of Law), a member of the House of Representatives
• Kenta Izumi(1998 College of Law), a member of the House of Representatives
• Tadayoshi Ichida(1967 College of Law), a member of the House of Councillors
• Hiroshi Okada(1969 College of Social Sciences), a member of the House of Councillors
• Atsuya Furuta (1988 College of Business Administration), Nippon Professional Baseball player (Tokyo Yakult Swallows)
• Cico, (College of International Relations), singer and half of Bennie K
• Shigetoshi Hasegawa (1990 College of Social Sciences), MLB player
• Masafumi Kawaguchi (1996 College of International Relations), American football player
• Noriaki Kinoshita (College of Business Administration), American football player
• Rikiya Koyama (College of Law), Actor
• Daisuke Matsui (College of Business Administration), soccer player
• Tsutomu Minakami, novelist, Naoki Prize winner
• Masayuki Nagare, artist
• Hiroyuki Nagato, actor
• Gorō Naya, actor
• Rokuro Naya (College of Law), actor
• Isin Nisio, novelist
• Tomokazu Ohka (College of Business Administration), MLB player
• Quruli, Japanese music group
• Savanna, both halves of this comic pair
• Mai Kuraki (College of Social Sciences, 2005), singer
• Hiroshi Tanahashi, professional wrestler
• Tomoaki Taniguchi, Japan rugby player
• Yuji Ijiri, accounting professor
• Princess Raiyah of Jordan
• Tomotaka Takahashi, robot creator
• Akira Machida, archaeologist
• Yamaguchi Gogen (山口剛玄) (College of Law), karate master

List of partner universities

A full list of partner institutions of Ritsumeikan University can be found on the website www.ritsumei.ac.jp/eng/html/about/abo_06.html.

Australia

Macquarie University
The University of Sydney
The University of Melbourne
The University of Queensland
The University of Western Australia

Canada

Simon Fraser University
University of British Columbia
University of Alberta

China

Peking University
Tsinghua University
Fudan University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
University of Science and Technology of China
Dongbei University of Finance and Economics

Hong Kong

University of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
City University of Hong Kong

France

EM Strasbourg

École Normale Supérieure, Paris
École Polytechnique
ESCEM
Aix-Marseille Université
Université Paris Diderot VII

Finland

University of Helsinki

The United Kingdom

SOAS (University of London)
King's College London (University of London)
University of Edinburgh
The University of Manchester

The United States

American University
Appalachian State University Georgetown University
Ohio Northern University (ONU)
Oklahoma City University
Rutgers University
University of Alabama
University of Washington
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Illinois at Urbanaâ€"Champaign
University of Minnesota
University of Oklahoma
University of North Texas

Singapore

National University of Singapore (NUS)
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

South Korea

Seoul National University
KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology
Pohang University of Science And Technology　(POSTECH)
Yonsei University

Unions

Some staff at Ritsumeikan University are represented by the General Union, a member of the National Union of General Workers (NUGW), which is itself a member of the National Trade Union Council (Zenrokyo).