Ritsumeikan Experience

A driving force for the globalization of higher education in Japan

Ritsumeikan University, with over a century of history, is a leading private university in Japan. It was selected to lead the globalization of Japanese higher education as part of the “Top Global University Project” funded by the Japanese government. Today, around 35,000 students are studying and conducting research on its four campuses in Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka. The College of Liberal Arts is located at Osaka Ibaraki Campus (OIC), the newest campus of the university.

Osaka Ibaraki Campus

Photo collage of scenes from Osaka Ibaraki Campus

Osaka Ibaraki Campus (OIC) aims to facilitate collaborations with industry and government institutions and to promote the Ritsumeikan Academy’s activities on the frontline of the interaction with local communities. OIC is home to four colleges and five graduate schools. The campus is based on the following three core academic concepts.

  1. Gateway to Asia
  2. Urban co-creation
  3. Community and regional collaboration

The concepts were conceived from the education and research at the colleges and graduate schools as well as the qualities of this urban situated campus.

A new “live and learn” facility for GLA students

Photo collage of scenes from OIC Global House

The University’s first on campus dormitory, OIC Global House is newly built to house both domestic and international students, most of whom study at the College of Global Liberal Arts (GLA). This five-story building comprises of a dormitory with 200 individual rooms, a multi-purpose hall, a Japanese-style tatami mat room with a Japanese garden, a community space for events and meetings, and more.

Ritsumeikan history

Prince Saionji

Established in 1869 by Japan’s leading statesman and cosmopolitan figure Prince Kinmochi Saionji, Ritsumeikan University is one of the oldest universities existing in Japan today. In anticipation of the need to nurture future generations who can engage with the international community, Prince Saionji set up a private academy called Ritsumeikan in the middle of Kyoto Imperial Palace in 1869. In 1900, Kyoto Hosei Gakko (Kyoto School of Law and Politics) was founded by Prince Saionji’s protege Kojuro Nakagawa and later adopted the name Ritsumeikan. It was given a status of a university in 1922.

Kojuro Nakagawa

True to Prince Saionji’s spirit, Ritsumeikan University today will mark its 150th anniversary since its founding moment and commitment to freedom and innovation, and in the postwar period, in peace and democracy. At Ritsumeikan University students are to cultivate sound scholarship, creativity, and individuality, with a keen sense of ethics and responsibility as a worldly global citizen.

College of Global Liberal Arts

Established in 2019, the College of Global Liberal Arts (GLA) is the 16th college established within the Ritsumeikan University that builds upon the 150 years of tradition while also reflecting the need for a globalized liberal arts education that will equip the students towards with a transdisciplinary, transnational, and innovative vision for the future.