Toyo University

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Toyo University


Motto	The basis of all learning lies in philosophy
Established	1887
Type	Private
President	Masajuro Shiokawa
Location	Tokyo, Japan
Campus	Urban
Website	www.toyo.ac.jp

Toyo University (東洋大学,Tōyō Daigaku) is a university with several branches in Japan, including (Bunkyō, Tokyo, Asaka, Kawagoe, and Itakura).

The antecedent to Toyo University was Shiritsu Tetsugakukan (私立哲学館), which was founded at Rinsho-in Temple by Enryo Inoue in 1887. Inoue felt that that the subject of philosophy was neglected in Japanese schools of higher learning at the time: "When one looks over the academic world in our society, one easily finds that philosophy occupies only a portion of it, while most of it is dominated by science, engineering, literature, history, law, political science and so on. However, if one looks into the roots of academic society, one realizes it is philosophy that forms the basis of every science, categorizes it and sets it in its place." [1] In 1906 the school was moved to its present site, and its name was changed to Toyo University. The school's motto is, "The basis of all learning lies in philosophy." As an image which embodies this spirit, an animated film character from the Moomins series is its mascot.

Originally courses were offered in philosophy, religion, ethics, education, Japanese, and classical Chinese, and the school continued to expand over time. In 1949 there was a substantial restructuring of the university, and departments of Literature, Economics, Law, Sociology, Engineering and Business Administration were established. Each of these departments has a graduate program. Departments of Regional Development Studies and Life Sciences were added in April, 1997. A law school was created in April 2004, and the Kawagoe campus hosts a Bio-Nano Electronics Research Centre [2] founded in 2003 with the goal of "harmony between extremophiles and nanotechnology." Among those conducting research at this facility is Nobel Laureate Sir Harold W. Kroto. Toyo University today consists of eight graduate schools, eight undergraduate faculties, numerous research institutes, a junior college, and two affiliated high schools, serving a combined student body of more than 30,000 students.