, also known in the

Kansai region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolita ...

as , is a leading Japanese

national university A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...

located in the city of

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

, in Hyōgo. It was established in 1949, but the academic origins of Kobe University trace back to the establishment of Kobe Higher Commercial School in 1902, which was renamed as Kobe University of Commerce, and Kobe University of Economics. Kobe University is one of the oldest and largest national universities in Japan, as well as one of the highest ranking national universities in the country. It comprises 14 graduate schools and 11 undergraduate faculties, and holds about 16,000 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs. The institution welcomes overseas students, which accounted for a total of 1,179 students, as of 1 May 2021. It also has 3,102 staff members, including professors, associate professors and administrative officials. Located beside the foothills of

Mount Rokkō is the name of a range of mountains in southeastern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Outline There is no single mountain or peak called "Rokkō," although the highest peak of the mountains is called , (literally, ''the highest peak of the Rokkō ...

, the university provides a view of the city and port of Kobe, providing a privileged environment for the pursuit of academic studies, especially in

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

areas. Kobe Higher Commercial School was one of the oldest institution with business and economics majors in Japan. Especially, the Graduate School of

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

benefits fully from a century of the history and the tradition. Kobe is also the first collegiate

business school A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, o ...

in Japan. Therefore, Kobe is called the birthplace of Japanese higher education in economics and business administration, and it has always been the center of Japanese business studies. Furthermore, the Graduate School of

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

was also established with the legal studies section of the former Kobe University of Economics. It has become a leading institution of high academic institution in the field of legal and political studies, and has been successful in becoming a reputable academic center. The Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, founded in 1919, has a history as a high-level research institution for international economics and international management. The institute has been highly regarded internationally for its outstanding achievements in theoretical, historical, empirical, and quantitative research. In the meantime, Kobe Hospital was established in 1869; it was a training center for medical practitioners, which was one of the oldest institutions in the modern medical education in Japan. In 1990, they made new changes as one of the major universities specializing in graduate research and education. Under the Japanese Ministry of Education and Science, it has started a new Center of Excellence (COE) projects, the "Research and Education Center of New Japanese Economic Paradigms", "Development and Education Center for Advanced Business Systems", and "Research Center for Dynamic Legal Processes of Advanced Market Societies".

History

Kobe University of Commerce (Antecedent of Kobe University)

The roots of the university can be traced back to 1902, when the was established. Its first president was . In 1929 this school was renamed ,Graduate School of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Kobe University
/ref> and it was further renamed in 1944, . In 1949, under Japan's new educational systems, the university was merged with Hyogo Normal School, Hyogo Junior Normal School, Kobe Technical College and Himeji High School, all of which were in

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

, leading to the creation of ''Kobe University''. The university has since been expanded and has created new faculties to complement its main academic foundations, which have been strongly established in the fields of economics and commerce.

Graduate Schools

* Graduate School of Humanities * Graduate School of Intercultural Studies * Graduate School of Human Development and Environment * Graduate School of Law **Tier 1 full-time law school * Graduate School of Economics ** The Okishio Theorem (

Nobuo Okishio was a Japanese Marxian economist and emeritus professor of Kobe University. In 1979, he was elected President of the Japan Association of Economics and Econometrics, which is now called Japanese Economic Association. Okishio studied mathematica ...

) is well known and appreciated worldwide * Graduate School of Business Administration **Tier 1 full-time MBA school * Graduate School of Science * Graduate School of Medicine * Graduate School of Health Sciences * Graduate School of Engineering * Graduate School of System Informatics * Graduate School of Agricultural Science * Graduate School of Maritime Sciences * Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies

Faculties

* * * * * * * * * *

Research Institutes

* Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration

Campuses

The university is formed by four campuses: Rokkodai, Kusunoki, Myodani, and Fukae. Rokkodai Campus is considered the main campus, and it comprises nine out of eleven faculties.

Rokkodai area

* Campus :Law, Economics, Business Administration (2-1, Rokkodai,

Nada-ku, Kobe is one of nine wards of Kobe, Japan. It has an area of 31.4 km², and a population of 129,095 (2008). A leading national university in Japan, Kobe University, is located in this ward, as is the city's Oji Zoo. The Tadao Ando-designed Hy ...

) * Campus :Letters, Science, Agriculture, Engineering (1-1, Rokkodai, Nada-ku, Kobe) * Campus :Intercultural Studies (1-2-1, Tsurukabuto, Nada-ku, Kobe) * Campus :Human Development (3-11, Tsurukabuto, Nada-ku, Kobe)

Kusunoki area

* Campus :Medicine (7-5-1, Kusunoki,

Chūō-ku, Kobe is one of 9 wards of Kobe, Japan. It has an area of 28.46 km², and a population of 127,602 with 74,814 households as of January 31, 2012. The ward was formed from the 1980 merger of the former Fukiai-ku () and Ikuta-ku (). The Consulat ...

)

Myodani area

* Campus :Health Sciences (7-10-2, Tomogaoka, Suma-ku, Kobe)

Fukae area

* Campus :Maritime Sciences (5-1-1, Fukaeminami, Higashinada-ku, Kobe)

Academic rankings

Kobe University is one of the leading universities in Japan. It can be seen in the several rankings such as shown below.

General rankings

The university is ranked 10th in 2010 in the ranking "

Truly Strong Universities The is a ranking of Japan's top 100 universities by publisher Toyo Keizai released annually in its business magazine of the same name. There are several lists ranking Japanese universities, often called Hensachi, with most measuring them by the ...

" by

Toyo Keizai is a book and magazine publisher specializing in politics, economics and business, based in Tokyo, Japan. The company is famous for established in 1895, one of three Japanese leading business magazines ranked with published by Nikkei Busines ...

. In another ranking, Japanese prep school Kawaijuku ranked Shindai as the 11th best university in Japan. In 2010

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...

ranked Shindai 234th in the world. It is also ranked as the 26th best university in QS Asian University rankings.

Research performance

Kobe University is one of the leading research institutions in Japan. According to

Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corpora ...

, Shindai is the 14th best research university in Japan. Weekly Diamond reported that Shindai has the 15th highest research standard in Japan in terms of research funding per researchers in COE Program. In the same article, it is also ranked 20th in terms of the quality of education by GP funds per student. It especially has a high research standard in Social Science and Humanities.

Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...

summarized the number of academic papers in Japanese major legal journals by university, and Shindai was ranked 5th during 2005–2009. Economics is also a notable field for Shindai. According to RePec, Shindai is the 7th best Economics research university in Jan 2011. In addition,

Nikkei Shimbun ''The Nikkei'', also known as , is the flagship publication of Nikkei, Inc. (based in Tokyo) and the world's largest financial newspaper, with a daily circulation exceeding 1.73 million copies. The Nikkei 225, a stock market index for the Tok ...

　on 2004/2/16 surveyed about the research standards in Engineering studies based on Thomson Reuters, Grants in Aid for Scientific Research and questionnaires to heads of 93 leading Japanese Research Centers, and Shindai was placed 12th (informative ability of research outcome 3rd) in this ranking.

Graduate school rankings

Eduniversal Eduniversal is a university ranking business by the French consulting company and rating agency ''SMBG'' specialized in Higher Education. Founded in 1994, one of the main goals of Eduniversal is to provide a tool, for students all around the world, ...

ranked Shindai's MBA as 6th best in Japan in their MBA rankings. It also means 129th best in the world. Shindai has one of the leading law schools in Japan as it was ranked 4th in 2009 (and 5th in 2011) in the passing rate of Japanese

Bar Examination A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associa ...

Alumni rankings

Alumni of Shindai enjoy their good success in Japanese industries such as shown below. According to the Weekly Economist's 2010 rankings, graduates from Shindai have the 18th best employment rate in 400 major companies in Japan. By contrast, the alumni of Shindai's average salary is very high with the 10th best in Japan, according to the

PRESIDENT President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. Mines ParisTech : Professional Ranking World Universities ranks Shindai as 25th in the world in 2011 in terms of the number of alumni listed among CEOs in the 500 largest worldwide companies. The university is also ranked 12th in Japan for the number of alumni holding the position of executive in the listed companies of Japan, and this number per student (probability of becoming an executive) is 21st. Shindai graduates were ranked 8th in Japan in the number of successful national CPA exam applicants.

Popularity and selectivity

Shindai is a popular university in Japan. Its entrance examination is usually considered as very selective. It is ranked in top 10 in Japan.

Scholarships for international students

Kobe university encourages international students to study at the university through a number of scholarships for eligible students. Some of them are: *Japanese Government Scholarship System *JASSO/ Honors Scholarship *Hyogo Prefecture Private Foreign Student Scholarship *Kobe/Sugawara Scholarship

Evaluation from Business World

Notable alumni

Sōsuke Uno was a Japanese politician who was briefly Prime Minister of Japan in 1989, the first Prime Minister who came from Shiga Prefecture. A scandal exposed by the geisha Mitsuko Nakanishi contributed to his premature resignation from office after just ...

, 75th

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

Masayuki Naoshima is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Ikeda, Osaka and graduate of Kobe University, he was elected for the first time in 1992. Before beco ...

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (Japan) The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The minister is also a statutory member of the National Security Council, and is nominated by the Prime Minister of Japan ...

Sanae Takaichi is a Japanese politician who has served as the Minister of State for Economic Security since August 2022. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, she has served in the House of Representatives since 2005, and had also served in several minist ...

, Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy * Sazō Idemitsu, founder,

Idemitsu Kosan is a Japanese petroleum company. It owns and operates oil platforms, refineries, produces and sells petroleum, oils and petrochemical products, and also operates gas stations under the brand and (until 2023) in its own ''Idemitsu'' and ''Sh ...

Co.,Ltd. *

Tadahiro Sekimoto was a Japanese electronics engineer, a recipient of the IEEE Medal of Honor (2004), chairman of Japan's Institute for International Socio-Economic Studies (IISE), and former chairman of the Board of Councilors of the Japan Federation of Economi ...

, recipient of the

IEEE Medal of Honor The IEEE Medal of Honor is the highest recognition of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It has been awarded since 1917, when its first recipient was Major Edwin H. Armstrong. It is given for an exceptional contribution ...

, ex-CEO,

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

Co., Ltd. *

Shinya Yamanaka is a Japanese stem cell researcher and a Nobel Prize laureate. He serves as the director of Center for iPS Cell (induced Pluripotent Stem Cell) Research and Application and a professor at the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto ...

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

researcher, awarded the

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accord ...

in 2012 *

Shirin Nezammafi Shirin Nezammafi ( fa, شیرین نظام‌مافی; ja, シリン・ネザマフィ) is an Iranian writer who resides in Japan. Though her native language is Persian, she writes in Japanese. She is fluent in English language, English, Persian l ...

, Iranian writer *

Shijaku Katsura II was a Japanese rakugo performer of the late 20th century, who often performed in English. He was born in Kobe, the son of a brick-maker. In 1960 he entered the tutelage of the rakugo performer , and upon completion of his study, was given th ...

Rakugo is a form of ''yose'', which is itself a form of Japanese verbal entertainment. The lone sits on a raised platform, a . Using only a and a as props, and without standing up from the seiza sitting position, the rakugo artist depicts a long ...

performer *

Kuranosuke Sasaki is a Japanese actor, known primary for his roles in Japanese television drama. Biography He was born into a family of a sake brewery in Kyoto, Japan. After graduating from Kobe University and resigning from an advertising agency, he played an ...

, Japanese actor *

Kumi Tanioka is a Japanese composer and pianist. Born in Hiroshima, Japan, she graduated from Kobe University with a degree in musical performance, and began working as a video game composer in 1998. She joined video game developer and publisher Square tha ...

, Japanese

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

music composer and musician *

Yasuo Mizui was a Japanese stone sculptor who lived in France. He preferred abstract form in public sculpture within architectural contexts and took part in several symposia on sculpture in Europe, the US, Israel, and Japan. Biography Yasuo Mizui entered i ...

, Sculptor, awarded

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

(Commandeur)

Notable faculty

Yasutomi Nishizuka was a prominent Japanese biochemist and made important contributions to the understanding of molecular mechanism of signal transduction across the cell membrane. In 1977, he discovered protein kinase C, which plays significant roles in a varie ...

, biochemist

References

External links

Kobe University website(English)

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070208070704/http://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/info/movie/index.htm Kobe University (movie)
Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070301140759/http://www.kisc.kobe-u.ac.jp/english/i_topics.html Kobe University International Student Center
EU Institute in Japan
{{Authority control Kansai Six (original) Japanese national universities Education in Kobe Kobe University Buildings and structures in Kobe Kansai Collegiate American Football League Art Deco architecture in Japan