is a coeducational university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo

Bunkyo, Tokyo

is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. Situated in the middle of the ward area, Bunkyō is a residential and educational center. Beginning in the Meiji period, literati like Natsume Sōseki, as well as scholars and politicians have lived there...

, 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...

, near 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...

. Bunkyo Gakuin University was founded in April 1991 in Kamekubo, Ōimachi, Iruma, Saitama

Iruma, Saitama

is a city in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo.As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 149,269 and a population density of 3,340 persons per km². The total area is 44.74 km². The city consists of 6 areas, Toyooka, Kaneko, Higashikaneko, Fujisawa, Miyadera-Nihongi, and...

 by Ishiko Shimada. In 2001, it opened the Faculty of Foreign Studies on what had been the Tokyo campus of Bunkyo Women's College (文京女子短期大学).

There is another campus located northwest of Tokyo in Fujimino, Saitama

Fujimino, Saitama

is a city located in Saitama, Japan, about 30 km from central Tokyo. The city is surrounded by Kawagoe, Fujimi, and Miyoshi.The city is served by Kami-Fukuoka Station, about 35 minutes on the Tōbu Tōjō Line from Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo...

. The university was originally called Bunkyo Women's University (文京女子大学). It was renamed Bunkyo Gakuin University in 2002 and became coeducational in 2005. The current president of Bunkyo University is Akiko Shimada.

One of the unique features of the university is its "Chat Lounge," where students can practice their conversational language skills free of charge. Two "chat partners" staff the English facility from Monday to Friday. The Chinese Chat Lounge space, staffed by one native Chinese speaker, is located next to the English Chat Lounge space and open in the afternoon.

The university also has three student dormitories in Hongo, Nishikata, and Fujimino, a dormitory for foreign exchange students next to the Hongo campus, a junior and senior girls' high school in Komagome, Tokyo, and a kindergarten across the street from the Hongo campus.

Bunkyo Gakuin University celebrated its 85th anniversary in 2009.

Faculties

Students may choose from these programs of study:

• Foreign Languages
• Business Management
• Humanities
• Health Care Management (new in 2006)

Years

• 1924 Bunkyo University founded
• 1991 Bunkyo Women's University founded
• 2002 Name changed to Bunkyo Gakuin University
• 2004 80th anniversary
• 2005 Coeducational classes begin

Study abroad

In 2003, Bunkyo Gakuin University began a study abroad exchange program with Saint John's University and the College of Saint Benedict

College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University

The College of Saint Benedict , for women, and Saint John's University , for men, are partnered liberal arts colleges respectively located in St. Joseph and Collegeville, Minnesota, USA. Students attend classes and activities together, and have access to the resources of both campuses...

 in Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 (USA). The next year, the university welcomed students from Malaysia. Since 2006 students from Thompson Rivers University

Thompson Rivers University

Thompson Rivers University is a comprehensive university located in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. It offers students a broad range of courses, career streams, and the ability to ladder credits from diploma programs into full degrees...

 in British Columbia, Canada have been part of the exchange program. The school also sends students to Beijing Language University, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and the United Kingdom (new in 2008) for study.

External links

• Bunkyo Gakuin University Website