Tokyo Woman's Christian University
Encyclopedia
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Founding
TWCU was established by Nitobe Inazō (1862-1933), a Japanese agricultural economist and educator, who was appointed as the first president in 1918. The first classes were held in Tsunohazu. In the 1880s, while Nitobe was a student at Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
in the United States, he became a member of the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
(Quakers). The Quaker philosophy gave him a strong faith that Japanese women should be provided educational opportunities. Together with A.K. Reischauer (father of Edwin O. Reischauer
Edwin O. Reischauer
Edwin Oldfather Reischauer was the leading U.S. educator and noted scholar of the history and culture of Japan, and of East Asia. From 1961–1966, he was the U.S. ambassador to Japan.-Education and academic life:...
) and Tetsu Yasui, he was dedicated to the foundation of Tokyo Woman’s Christian University.
Campus
The original TWCU campus in Iogi-mura, Toyotama-gun, to which the university moved in 1924, was built in the 1920s and is very significant architecturally. It was designed by Antonin RaymondAntonin Raymond
Antonin Raymond, or , born: was a Czech architect, who lived and worked in the USA and Japan...
who came to Tokyo with Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
to build the famous Imperial Hotel
Imperial Hotel
Imperial Hotel, Ltd. is a company that operates hotels in Japan. Its flagship hotel, the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo , and its headquarters are located in the Chiyoda Ward of Tokyo, near the Imperial Palace, Hibiya Park, and Ginza.The Imperial Hotel group includes five hotels throughout Japan.-List of...
. The university includes seven registered tangible cultural properties
Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan
as defined by the Japanese government's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties are Cultural PropertiesIn this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple definition, e.g "Cultural Properties" as opposed to "cultural properties"...
, including the main building. In addition to TWCU’s beautiful garden, the campus includes open spaces and a small forest behind the main building. In the forest, there are various plants such as plum trees, cherry trees, dogwood trees and tall pine trees, as well as raccoon dogs and many crows. Although the campus is in an urban area, it is unusually green and spacious.
The Nitobe Memorial Room is in the main building. It contains documents and photographs to explain the history and the philosophy of the university.
The chapel has colorful stained glass and a pipe organ. In the morning, there is worship every day. The auditorium is used for the entrance ceremony, the university festival and the graduation ceremony.
The Reischauer House, in which Dr. A.K. Reischauer lived with his family, is a registered tangible cultural property
Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan
as defined by the Japanese government's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties are Cultural PropertiesIn this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple definition, e.g "Cultural Properties" as opposed to "cultural properties"...
. It is built in western style architecture and has a romantic atmosphere.
Building No. 23 is the most recent building and was completed in 2009. It is the tallest building in the campus. There are a wooden deck and terraces in the building and on a clear day, Mt. Fuji and Tokyo Tower
Tokyo Tower
is a communications and observation tower located in Shiba Park, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. At , it is the second tallest artificial structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations.Built in...
are visible from the top floor.
Academics
TWCU has one faculty divided into twelve departments in which undergraduates can be major. The biggest department is the Department of Literature and Culture in English. This department has about 640 students. The smallest is the Department of Philosophy which has about 160 students.University departments
- Department of Communication
- Department of Economics
- Department of History
- Department of Information and sciences
- Department of International Relations
- Department of Japanese Literature
- Department of Language science
- Department of Literature and Culture in English
- Department of Mathematics
- Department of Philosophy
- Department of Psychology
- Department of Sociology
TWCU provides a strong liberal arts education leading to a bachelor’s degree. Students can make a curriculum from various fields, not only from their own major.
Master’s degree programs and doctoral degree programs are offered in the Graduate School.
TWCU is ranked as one of the top women's universities in Japan. Among the famous graduates of TWCU are
- Sawako AriyoshiSawako Ariyoshiwas a Japanese writer and novelist.-Biography:Born in Wakayama City and a graduate of Tokyo Women's Christian College, Sawako Ariyoshi spent part of her childhood in Java...
(writer) - Hanae MoriHanae MoriHanae Mori is a fashion designer in Japan. She is the only Japanese woman to have presented her collections on the runways of Paris and New York, and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official haute couture design house by the fédération française de la couture in France...
(fashion designer) - Jakucho SetouchiJakucho Setouchi, formerly , is a Buddhist nun, writer and activist.- Biography :Setouchi was born in Tokushima. She attended Tokyo Woman's Christian University and graduated with a degree in Japanese Literature...
(writer)
Campus Festival
Every year the university festival, called "VERA Festival," is held on campus in November. "VERA" comes from the Latin "QUAECUNQUE SUNT VERA." This phrase is engraved on Tokyo Woman’s Christian University’s main building. It comes from PaulPaul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
’s famous letter to the Philippians 4:8:
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
The VERA festival has a variety of performances by university clubs and many people visit.
English Education
Tokyo Woman’s Christian University puts a great deal of effort into English education. For example, it has a “Career English Course” where students develop high-level English writing and presentation skills. In addition, every week English conversation class is held with a native English speaker and anybody who is in this university can participate.University Symbol
The university symbol was designed in 1918 by President Dr. Inazo Nitobe. The symbol has two linked “S's" which represent “service and sacrifice” and he took the initial letters of “service and sacrifice” and produced this mark expressing the Christian ethos. He taught that “service and sacrifice,” helping other people, is the best idea to represent the spirit of Christianity. This symbol appears on many kinds of things including stationery sold in the TWCU book store.University Song
During its history TWCU has had two university songs. The first song was composed by Kosaku YamadaKosaku Yamada
was a Japanese composer and conductor.In many Western reference books his name is given as Kósçak Yamada. During his music study in the Imperial German capital of Berlin from 1910-13 he hated the times when people laughed at him because his "normal" transliteration of his first name "Kosaku"...
. The second song for TWCU was composed by the English poet Edmund Blunden
Edmund Blunden
Edmund Charles Blunden, MC was an English poet, author and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was also a reviewer for English publications and an academic in Tokyo and later Hong Kong...
in 1950. The fourth president Isao Saito asked Professor Blunden, who was a teacher at TWCU and the University of Tokyo
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
, to compose a new university song. This song is based on an old English hymn and is sung in Japanese at the graduation ceremony each year.