About Us

History of
Ritsumeikan Uji

  1. Home
  2. About Us
  3. History of Ritsumeikan Uji

Ritsumeikan Uji is an affiliated high school of the Ritsumeikan Foundation, which was established in 1869. The Ritsumeikan Foundation has as its central aim to create international mutual understanding through a commitment to peace, democracy, freedom and sustainable development, and consists of two universities, four junior and senior high schools, and one primary school. The Ritsumeikan Foundation established Ritsumeikan Uji High School in 1995. A junior high school was added in 2003. In 2009, Ritsumeikan Uji Junior and Senior High School became an International Baccalaureate World School and has since graduated five cohorts of IB Diploma students. An overview of key dates is below:

1869 The founderof Ritsumeikan Kinmochi Saionji establishes a private school, “Ritsumeikan”
1900 Kojuro Nakagawa founds “Kyoto Hosei School”
1913 The university is renamed Ritsumeikan University
1948 The Ritsumeikan University system is throughly revised due to the Japanese Law pertaining to School Education
1965 “Uji High School” is founded after the foundation of “Incorporated Educational Institution of Uji Gakuen” by Heihachiro Kawata
1994 Following the consolidation of Ritsumeikan and Uji Gakuen, the high school is renamed “Ritsumeikan Uji Senior High School”
1995 The inaugural class of 1995 enters Ritsumeikan Uji Senior High School
2000 APU Immersion Program Course (IP Course) is founded to offer English immersion education to selected students
2002 The school is authorized as a “Super English Language High School (SEL-Hi)” by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
The IP Course is renamed the Super English Language Course (SEL Course). The school is relocated to Hirono-cho from Mimuroto, Uji City
2003 Foundation of Ritsumeikan Uji Junior High School
2004 Opening of Rits Kids (English Course for elementary school students)
2006 Junior High School: Establishment of Scholar-Athlete & Artist Course (SA Course) Senior High School: Beginning of Scholar-Athlete Project (SAP)
2009 The school is authorized as the first Japanese IB Diploma Program (DP) School in Kansai by the International Baccalaureate (IB)
2012 The first IBDP students obtain IB diplomas. IB Course students matriculate to Olin College of Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Tufts University, the University of Toronto and Waseda University.
2014 Ritsumeikan Uji is authorized as a “Super Global High School (SGH)” by the Japanese Ministry of Education.
2015 IB Course graduates are admitted and matriculate to Duke University, Imperial College of London, and King’s College of London among many others.
2016 IB Course graduates its fifth cohort. Course size rises to nearly 90 students.
2019 IB Course graduates its eighth cohort. Graduates are admitted to Brown University and Dartmouth College among many others. The school is awarded the coveted World Wide Learning (WWL) status from the Japanese Ministry of Education.
2021 Junior high school starts IC Course and IP Course. New Building “Building C” opens.