Aoyama Gakuin University


Aoyama Gakuin University is a private Christian university in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Originally established in 1874 by missionaries from the Methodist Episcopal Church, it was reconfigured in its current form in 1949 as tertiary component of the Aoyama Gakuin.
The university's undergraduate and graduate programs include courses on literature, law, economics, business, international politics, economics, communication, science, engineering and cultural studies. The university graduate programs include international management, law and professional accounting.
Aoyama Gakuin University participates in Hakone Ekiden, an annual university relay race between Tokyo and Hakone in Japan. Recently they won the races in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024, 2025, and 2026.

General information

The main campus, located in Omotesando in central Tokyo, is complemented by the Sagamihara Campus in Kanagawa Prefecture. The latter houses the College of Science and Sports. The university has graduated around 180,000 students and employs over 1,600 full and part-time faculty members. Aoyama Gakuin University is accredited by the British University Association and is a member of the British Association of Private College and Universities.
The university maintains a number of active international exchange programs for students and faculty. Many of the students and faculty have attended universities and research institutes abroad, while the institution itself has attracted numerous outstanding scholars and students from around the world to its campuses.

Organization

Undergraduate programs

Aoyama Gakuin Memorial Hall is a large gymnasium located on the Aoyama Campus. It was completed in 1964, the year Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games. The facility has a seating capacity of 2,500 spectators and can accommodate up to 6,000 people at maximum capacity. The hall serves multiple purposes, hosting various events such as entrance and graduation ceremonies, official domestic and international sporting competitions, cultural events, and concerts. It is the home arena of the Sun Rockers Shibuya of the B.League, Japan's professional basketball league.

Rankings

The school ranks 11th in the country in the number of alumni elected to the National Diet, and 13th in the number of alumni holding executive-level positions in the country with listed companies. Its graduates rank 8th in Japan in the number of successful passings of the national CPA exam.
The university is also on the list of top 20 most popular universities in Tokyo. The main campus is located in the Shibuya area, and the students are generally viewed as having come from more affluent backgrounds and are regarded as sophisticated. The school has been lauded for its undergraduate focus on the humanities and business education.
In the 2020–2021 University Brand Image Survey conducted by Nikkei BP Consulting, Aoyama Gakuin University ranked 5th overall in the Greater Tokyo Area and 4th out of the private universities after Waseda, Keio, and Sophia Universities.
  • QS World university rankings 201: 701+
  • * Modern Languages 201: 151–200
  • QS Asian university rankings 201: 201–250

    Notable faculty

  • Robert March
  • Kumiko Haba
  • Karl-Friedrich Lenz
  • Masami Sumiyoshi
  • Noritada Matsuda
  • Yoshikazu Miki
  • Akira Ishii
  • Junichi Kikuchi
  • Munehide Nishizawa
  • Shin Hae Bong
  • Yasunori Osono

    Notable graduates

Politicians