Keio University
Keio University, abbreviated as Keio or Keidai, is a private research university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally established as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It was granted university status in 1920, becoming one of the first private universities in the country.
Keio University is also one of the member universities of RU11 and APRU, and it is one of two Japanese universities to be a member of the World Economic Forum's Global University Leaders Forum.
Overview
Keio traces its history to 1858 when Fukuzawa Yukichi started to teach Dutch while he was a guest of the Okudaira family. In 1868 he changed the name of the school to Keio Gijuku and devoted his time to education. While Keio's initial identity was that of a private school of Western studies, it expanded and established its first university faculty in 1890.Keio has approximately 30 Research Centres located on its five main campuses and at other facilities for advanced research in Japan. Keio University Research Institute at SFC has joined the MIT and the French INRIA in hosting the international W3C.
As of June 2022, Keio University holds the largest endowment fund among all Japanese universities, with ¥78 billion. This is followed by Waseda University at ¥29 billion, Kyoto University at ¥20 billion and the University of Tokyo at ¥15 billion.
History
Keio University was first established in 1858 as a School of Western studies located in one of the mansion houses at Tsukiji by founder Fukuzawa Yukichi. "" was the original name of Keio University. Keio University's root is considered to be the Han school for Kokugaku studies, named Shinshu Kan established in 1796. It later changed its name to "Keio Gijuku" in 1868, which originated from the era name "Keio", with "Gijuku" as the translation of Private school. It moved to its current location in 1871, established a Medical school in 1873, along with the university department of Economics, Law and Literacy studies in 1890.| Year | University Development |
| 1858 | Establishment of Keio Gijuku |
| 1879 | Keio sought financial support from the government but failed. Instead, it became a vocational school funded by daimyōs including Shimazu clan. |
| 1890 | Departments of Economics, Law, and Letters established |
| 1906 | Graduate studies programs established |
| 1917 | School of Medicine established |
| 1920 | Keio authorized as a university, hence gaining the authority to confer degrees |
| 1934 | Hiyoshi Campus opened |
| 1944 | School of Technology established |
| 1949 | Keio authorized as a university in the post-war system |
| 1957 | School of Business and Commerce established |
| 1962 | Graduate School of Business Administration established |
| 1981 | Department of Science and Technology established |
| 1990 | School of Environmental and Information Studies and School of Policy Management established |
| 2001 | School of Nursing and Medical Care established |
| 2004 | School of Law established |
| 2008 | School of Pharmacy established |
| 2008 | Graduate School of Media Design established |
| 2016 | Tonomachi Town Campus opened |
| 2021 | Fukuzawa Yukichi Memorial Keio History Museum established |
In 1899, Keio sent six students to study abroad. In the same year, it also accepted three international students from India, Qing-dynasty China, and Siam. Eight international students entered from Taiwan the following year. In 1946, Keio University began accepting female students.
In 1916, Keio was visited by Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Another visit in 1922 included physicist Albert Einstein, who presented a special lecture on the theory of relativity. In 2008, Keio University was visited by Prince Charles. In 2023, Sam Altman provided a lecture on campus.
Presidents
Since the president system was established in 1881, Keio University has had 20 presidents.Student body
In 2021, there were 33,469 students at Keio University, with 28,667 undergraduate students and 4,802 graduate students. Although two-thirds of the student body are males, the gender ratio differs between different majors.There were 1,908 international students on May 1, 2021, with 874 undergraduate students, 861 graduate students and 173 other students. China provided the most international students with 1,016, followed by South Korea, France, Taiwan, the United States, Indonesia, and Germany.
Student life
Societies
In Japanese universities, student societies are known as "circles". There are over 410 circles at Keio University by estimate, including both official and unofficial circles.Athletics
The interest of Keio's students in baseball stretches back to the early years of the 20th century. In 1913, an American touring team of players from the New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox played an exhibition game against the Keio team. In a 1932 exhibition game, the Keio team beat the University of Michigan team, which was then touring Japan.Keio's baseball team plays in the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League.
Kei-So rivalry
Traditionally, there has been a strong rivalry between Keio and Waseda University. There are annually many matches between the two universities in several sports, such as baseball, rowing, rugby, lacrosse, track and field, American football, association football, aikido, karate, basketball, tennis, swimming, fencing, figure skating, ice hockey, and field hockey. These games are called "Kei–So Sen " or, more generally, "So–Kei Sen ".The Kei-So baseball rivalry, which has existed for over a century, holds a notable place in the history of Japanese baseball. A game played on October 16, 1943, is particularly well known and was later depicted in the 2008 film The Last Game – the Final So-Kei Sen.
American football
Scandals
In October 2016, six male students from Keio Advertisement Society, a long-standing student club known for its organisation of the Miss Keio pageant contest, were investigated for gang rape during a club activity. An out-of-court settlement was reached and the students were not prosecuted. In May 2018, another three students were arrested for sexual assaults.In March 2017, a student tennis club was disbanded after a student died of alcohol poisoning during a club activity. Two other Keio students died due to over-drinking in 2012 and 2013.
In June 2017, the school's election committee unconventionally selected Haseyama Akira, a legal history professor who won second place at the general election among teachers and staff, to be the school's new president, breaking a 50-year convention.
In late 2019, both the American football team and the cheerleading club suspended club activities for "inappropriate behaviours".
In January 2020, it was reported that a former member of the school president's secretarial staff had installed a camera in a female toilet stall on the Mita campus, filming over a thousand videos over 3 months.
Academic rankings and reputation
Keio ranks 53rd in the world in the Times Higher Education's Alma Mater Index. It ranks 34th globally in the Center for World University Rankings and 3rd in Asia. Keio is ranked at 58th of the Reuters Top 100 innovative universities worldwide. British Quacquarelli Symonds company estimates that Keio is ranked the 192nd in QS World University Rankings 2017/18. It is ranked the 45th in QS World University Ranking 2017/18 for Graduate Employability Ranking. In the Asian University Ranking, Quacquarelli Symonds also ranked Keio as 37th in Asia. The Academic Ranking of World Universities, which is compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, ranks Keio 151-175 in the world and 37 in Asia.Research performance
According to Thomson Reuters, Keio is the 10th best research university in Japan, the only private university within the Top 15. Keio has provided 3 presidents of Japanese Economic Association in its 42-year history, and this number is 5th largest.Business
Keio University ranks second in Japan, for the number of alumni holding CEO positions in Fortune Global 500 companies, according to Mines ParisTech: Professional Ranking of World Universities.Keio Business School is Japan's first business school and one of four Japanese institutions holding The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation. Eduniversal also ranked Keio as the No.1 in Japan. In Eduniversal Keio is one of 3 Japanese schools categorized in "Universal Business schools with major international influence". In 2012, the Keio Business School became a founding member of the university alliance Council on Business & Society.