Ritsumeikan University

Ritsumeikan University
立命館大学
Zonshinkan is a building on the Kinugasa Campus.
Established	1900 (chartered 1922)
Type	Private
President	Kawaguchi Kiyofumi (since Jan 2007)
Academic staff	1,234
Undergraduates	32,222
Postgraduates	3,273
Other students	800 (international)
Location	Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan 35°01′57″N 135°43′27″E
Campus	Urban
Website	www.ritsumei.ac.jp
As of May 2006

Ritsumeikan University (立命館大学, Ritsumeikan Daigaku, abbreviated to Rits and 立命 Ritsumei) is a private university in Kyoto, Japan, tracing its roots to 1869. With the Kinugasa Campus, the university also has a satellite called Biwako-Kusatsu Campus (BKC) in Kusatsu, and Shiga Prefecture.

Ritsumeikan is one of the most internationalized mainstream universities in Japan and a leading university in south part of Japan. It has established exchange programs with hundreds of schools worldwide, including an exchange with The University of British Columbia, University of Washington, University of California, New York University, The University of Manchester, University of Hong Kong,and a dual degree program with American University.^{[citation needed]}

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, 立命, ritsumei).

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

 

Colleges and graduate schools (by campus)

Kinugasa Campus

The Ritsumeikan Charter

Nakagawa Kaikan building on the Suzaku Campus

Rohm Plaza of Biwako Kusatsu Campus

Saionji Memorial Hall (Kinugasa Campus, Kyoto, Japan)

Zonshinkan Hall (Kinugasa Campus, Kyoto, Japan)

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 (産業社会学部)
  • College of International Relations (国際関係学部)
  • College of Policy Science (政策科学部)
  • 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 (法学研究科)
  • Graduate school of Sociology (社会学研究科)
  • Graduate school of International Relations (国際関係研究科)
  • Graduate school of Policy Science (政策科学研究科)
  • Graduate school of Letters (文学研究科)
  • Graduate school of Science for Human Services (応用人間科学研究科)
  • Graduate school of Language Education and Information Science (言語教育情報研究科)
  • Graduate school of CoreEthics and Frontier Sciences (先端総合学術研究科)

• 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 (経営管理研究科)
  • Graduate School of Public Policy (公務研究科)
• Schools (専門職大学院)
  • School of Law (法務研究科)

Biwako-Kusatsu Campus (BKC)

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 (生命科学部)
  • College of Pharmaceutical Sciences (薬学部)
• Graduate schools (大学院)
  • Graduate School of Economics (経済学研究科)
  • Graduate School of Business Administration (経営学研究科)
  • Graduate School of Science and Engineering (理工学研究科)
  • Graduate School of Technology Management (テクノロジー・マネジメント研究科)

• Institute at BKC (インスティテュート)
  • Integrated Institute for Arts and Science
    • Environment & Design Institute (環境・デザインインスティテュート)
    • Finance Institute (ファイナンス・情報インスティテュート)
    • Service Management Institute (サービス・マネジメントインスティテュート)

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

The Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (立命館 アジア 太平洋 大学, Ritsumeikan Ajia Taiheiyō Daigaku) is a private institution inaugurated April 2000 in Beppu, Ōita 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 over 6,000 students. Approximately half of the students and faculty members come from overseas.

Facilities

Art Research Center

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 invent world's first instant noodles and cup noodles.
• Kenichiro Satō (佐藤 研一郎)(College of Engineering), founder of RohmCo., Ltd.
• 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
• Tomokazu Ohka (College of Business Administration), MLB player
• Takashi Okamura (College of Business Administration), comedian, Ninety-nine)
• 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
• Uzumaki Sasaki, adult video (AV) director and co-founder of two AV studios

List of the partner universities

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

Australia

The University of Sydney
The University of Melbourne
The University of Queensland

Canada

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

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

École Normale Supérieure, Paris
École Polytechnique

Finland

University of Helsinki

The United Kingdom

Kings College London (University of London)
University of Edinburgh
The University of Manchester

The United States

University of California
New York University
Ohio Northern University (ONU)
University of Alabama
University of Washington
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Minnesota

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

External links

• Ritsumeikan University (English)
• Ritsumeikan Asian Pacific University
• Profiles of Faculties