Niigata University


Niigata University is a national university in Niigata, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It was established in 1949 and has its major origins in Niigata Medical College and in Niigata Higher School. It is one of the largest Japanese national universities on the Sea of Japan.
The university comprises nine faculties and seven graduate schools. The student enrollment is about 12,000.

History

The oldest origin of the university was Kyoritsu Hospital founded in 1870. It was reestablished in 1873 as Private Niigata Hospital, which became a prefectural hospital in 1877.
In 1901 five national medical schools were established in Chiba, Sendai, Okayama, Kanazawa and Nagasaki. The municipal and prefectural governments of Niigata demanded a national medical school from the Ministry of Education, but the plan was deferred because of the Russo-Japanese War. Later in 1910 Niigata Medical School was founded, and the former Niigata Hospital became its clinical facility. In 1922 the medical school was chartered as Niigata Medical College.
The municipal and prefectural governments of Niigata and the local industrial firms further wanted the medical college to be developed into an imperial university and competed with Kanazawa. But the trials did not succeed until the end of World War II.
In 1949 seven colleges were integrated to constitute Niigata University under Japan's new educational system. The university was inaugurated with the Faculties of Humanities, Education, Science, Medicine, Engineering, and Agriculture.
In 1965 the Faculty of Dentistry was established. The faculties began moving to new Ikarashi Campus in 1968, and the removals finished in the 1980s. In 1977 the Faculty of Humanities was reorganized into the Faculty of Law and Literature, then divided into three faculties in 1980. The university became a National University Corporation in 2004. In 2017, the College of Creative Studies was established.

Organization

Undergraduate schools

The faculties, graduate schools are concentrated in Ikarashi Campus to the west of the city. The medical faculties are located in Asahimachi Campus in the downtown. Attached schools are located in Nishi Ohata district next to Asahimachi Campus. In a building next to Niigata Station there is a small campus named Tokimate, whose main purpose is to offer courses of lifelong learning for adults.

Symbol

The emblem of the university is called "Rikka", a symbolized shape of a snow crystal.