Kwansei Gakuin University

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Kwansei Gakuin University
関西学院大学
The seal of Kwansei Gakuin University
Motto Mastery for Service
Established Founded Sep. 28, 1889,
Chartered March, 1912[1]
Chartered Mar. 7, 1932[2]
Type Private
Endowment US$847.8 million
(JP¥96.5 billion)
Chancellor Michiya Hata
President Kazuo Hiramatsu
Faculty 383 full-time,
878 part-time
Staff 533
Students 19,482
Undergraduates 17,985
Postgraduates 1,497
Doctoral students 846
Professional students 651
Location Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan
Campus Suburban / Urban,
148 acres (0.6 km²)
Athletics 34 varsity teams
Colors Blue and white
Nickname Fighters, Saints, Jayhawks, etc.
Mascot 8th Man (unofficial and historical)
Fight song Shingetsuki no moto ni
Affiliations Kansai Big Six, ACUCA
Website www.kwansei.ac.jp

Kwansei Gakuin University (関西学院大学 Kansei gakuin daigaku?), colloquially abbreviated to KG or Kwangaku (関学 Kangaku?), is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university located in Nishinomiya, Sanda, and Osaka City, Japan.

Chartered in 1932, it is the 13th institution with university status in Kansai region, the 23rd-oldest outside the Greater Tokyo, and the 46th-oldest in the country. It should not be confused with Kansai University (関西大学 Kansai daigaku?), an entirely separate university in Suita, Osaka.

Contents

[edit] Campus

  • Nishinomiya-Uegahara Campus
  • Kobe-Sanda Campus
  • Osaka-Umeda Campus

[edit] History

[edit] Overview

Harada-no-mori Campus
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Harada-no-mori Campus
Branch Memorial Chapel
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Branch Memorial Chapel

Founded by the Revd Walter Russell Lambuth in 1889, Kwansei gakuin was originally a day school / seminary affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC-S) in the Foreign Settlement of Kobe. KG steadily expanded as a middle school, rather than a seminary through 1900s.

Then its expansion accelerated as an institution of higher education, especially after Kwansei gakuin was under the joint control of MEC-S and the Canadian Methodist Church in 1911. The school then transferred to finally its present Nishinomiya-Uegahara Campus near Mount Kabuto in 1929.

Nishinomiya-Uegahara Campus
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Nishinomiya-Uegahara Campus

The school, formerly an all-male school, opened its doors to women on equal terms with men in 1943.

Kwansei Gakuin University and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) have reached an agreement establishing the university as the first institution of higher learning in Asia to form a volunteer-sending partnership with the United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS) in 2003.

[edit] Organization / Academics

[edit] Undergraduate units

[edit] Postgraduate units

[edit] Graduate schools

[edit] Professional schools

[edit] Centers and institutes

[edit] University libraries

[edit] University press

  • Kwansei Gakuin University Press (ja) (1997)

[edit] Students and Faculty

Kwansei Gakuin University hosts more than 300 international students from a variety of nations.

[edit] Sports, Clubs, and Traditions

[edit] Sports

Kwansei gakuin has one of the most diverse varsity athletic programs in Japan, and its 34 varsity teams that compete in regional collegiate leagues. Although the school, unlike other private universities in the country, does not offer specific scholarships for student-athletes, it is still competitive with the top echelon of Japanese collegiate teams in the sports of American football, basketball, lacrosse and soccer.

KG is best known for its American football team, as known as Fighters, dominating the Division I League of Kansai Collegiate American Football Association with a total of 46 league titles, 22 national collegiate titles, and 1 national title from 1948-2005 seasons. Kwansei gakuin, Kyoto and Ritsumeikan have battled for American football dominance in the league for the last fifteen years.

The school's traditional athletic rivalry with Kansai University is intense again in every sport since the two institutions started All Kan-Kwan Games (総合関関戦 Sogo kankan sen?), which is less known than Keio-Waseda rivalry in the country's college athletics, in 1978. Kwansei gakuin ties the series, 14-14 for the past three years running.

Kwansei gakuin has several athletic facilities including the 3rd Field (for), one of the first American football fields in the country, the Soccer Field, and the General Gymnasium.

KG athletics are supported by the Traditional Cheerleading Team, the Brass Band, and the Cheerleading Team of Kwansei Gakuin University Cheerleading Division. The division's three teams attend every American football game throughout the fall, as well as most baseball games throughout the spring. The school's unofficial mascot was used to be "Kwangaku eitoman", the popular cartoon/animation character 8th Man in 1960s. Kwansei gakuin has several fight songs, the most played of which, especially at American football games, are "Shingetsu-ki no moto ni", "Fight on Kwansei", and "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man".

In addition to KG's varsity athletics, a wide variety of clubs and intramural sports teams have been organized as student organizations under the auspices of the Division of Students. Most of the club and intramural sports are coed.

Kwansei Gakuin University is a member of Kansai Big Six Baseball League, having left Kansai Six Baseball League in 1982. The school was recognized as one of Kansai Six universities for about three decades until KG was often excluded from Kansai Six Baseball League, then Kansai Region's top league, in 1970s.

[edit] School name

The name kwansei (関西 kansei?) came from its founder's desire to serve citizens of Kansai (関西?), the western part of Japan, while the word "college" was translated into gakuin (学院?) then. Thus, kwansei gakuin means "West Japan College" literally.

The name was romanized according to the vogue pronunciation among progressive students in the late 19th century. The "official" pronunciation of kwan can be heard in performances of the school song, but in other contexts the modern pronunciation of kan is usual. Thus, the abbreviated name kwangaku is usually pronounced as kangaku, too, though kwangaku would be correct in theory.

[edit] Noted Faculty

[edit] Noted Alumni/ae

[edit] Law / Politics / Government

[edit] Business

[edit] Entertainment

[edit] Sports

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ as West Japan College, a non-degree granting professional school
  2. ^ as Kwansei Gakuin University

[edit] External links


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