Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Encyclopedia
Oita Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan on Kyūshū Island. The prefectural capital is the city of Ōita.- History :Around the 6th century Kyushu consisted of four regions: Tsukushi-no-kuni 筑紫国, Hi-no-kuni 肥国, and Toyo no kuni...
, 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...
. APU was made possible through the collaboration of three parties from the public and private sectors: Ōita Prefecture, Beppu City and the Ritsumeikan Academy. APU has an enrollment of over 6,000 students. Approximately half of the students and faculty members come from overseas.
Location
APU is located at Jumonjibaru in the City of Beppu, Ōita Prefecture on the island of KyushuKyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
. Beppu is geographically closer to Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
(Korea) than 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).
Background
Ritsumeikan Asian Pacific University is a member of the greater Ritsumeikan Academy which includes APU, Ritsumeikan University and a number of primary, junior and senior high schools throughout Japan.The Ritsumeikan Charter states that, “Ritsumeikan traces its roots to Prince Saionji's private academy of the same name, established in 1869. It was officially founded in 1900 by his protégé, Kojuro Nakagawa, as the Kyoto Hosei Gakko (Kyoto School of Law and Politics), later to take on the name "Ritsumeikan". The name is derived from a passage in the Jinxin chapter of the Discourses of Mencius, and means "a place to establish one's destiny through cultivating one's mind."
Ritsumeikan's founding ideals are "freedom and innovation" and reflecting upon its wartime experience, it committed itself to a core educational philosophy of "peace and democracy" after World War II.
In the early 1990s the concept of creating a truly international university in the City of Beppu was first raised by the Governor of Ōita Prefecture, Mr Morihiko Hiramatsu with the then Chancellor of the Ritsumeikan Trust in Kyoto, Mr Kawamoto. This led to various activities over a decade and culminated with the opening of the university at Jumonjibaru, above Beppu City in April 2000 with much fanfare.
University Features
Today the university has an enrollment of just over 6,000 students. While half of the students are domestic Japanese students, nearly 50% of APU students are international students from 97 countries and regions around the world. This 50-50 balance is a feature unique to APU amongst Japanese universities and APU is second only to Waseda University in terms its number of international students.An interesting feature of APU is its bilingual educational system; it offers dual language education in English and Japanese in the two undergraduate colleges. The graduate programs are conducted exclusively in English. The current undergraduate programs are conducted in the College of International Management and College of Asia Pacific Studies. Further, specialized post-graduate programs are conducted in the Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies and Graduate School of Management. A feature of the university is that students are accepted for enrollment and graduate twice a year, once in spring and fall respectively.
Apart from academic activities, this university provides many opportunities for students to take part in extra curricular activities ranging from club activities to multi-cultural events.
Full time assistance by university departments help students not only to continue their studies smoothly, but also grasp valuable employment opportunities in many leading multinational firms.
College of International Management
The College of International Management (APM) curriculum aims to develop internationally-minded business leaders ready to take action with decision making abilities and strategic thinking skills. Four subject clusters have been established which focus on Marketing and Corporate Strategy, International Business and Comparative Management, Accounting and Finance, and New Business and Innovation.
College of Asia Pacific Studies
The College of Asia Pacific Studies (APS) curriculum focuses on the three fields of Sociology, International Relations and Area Studies. Four subject clusters have been established which focus on Comparative Societies and Cultures, International Governance, Environmental Resource Policy, and Sustainable Development Studies.
Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies
Graduate School of Management
Research Centers
- Center for Modern Language Research (CMLR) (Formerly, the Center for Modern Language Education)
- Ritsumeikan Center for Asia Pacific Studies (RCAPS)
APU Overseas Offices
- Australia
- Canada The University of British ColumbiaUniversity of British ColumbiaThe University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
- China Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai Jiao Tong University or SJTU), sometimes referred to as Shanghai Jiaotong University , is a top public research university located in Shanghai, China. Shanghai Jiao Tong University is known as one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China...
- Korea
- India
- Indonesia
- Taipei, Taiwan
- Thailand
- Vietnam