, abbreviated to ''Kumadai'' (熊大), is a Japanese national university located in

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to ...

in the

Kyushu region is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It was established on May 31, 1949, at which time the following institutions were subsumed into it; Kumamoto Teachers College (established in 1874), Kumamoto Pharmaceutical College (1885), the Fifth High School (1887), Kumamoto Medical College (1896), and Kumamoto Technical College (1906). Currently, the university has seven faculties and eight graduate schools with a total of around 10,000 Japanese students and 500 international students from Asia, North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Oceania. It is involved in the Top Global University Project, selected by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), which aims to improve education in Japanese universities in order to increase global recognition and compete with the rest of the world.

History

The university was chartered by the Showa government on May 31, 1949, under a new Japanese education system reforming older system, merging five institutions of higher education in the city of Kumamoto which includes Kumamoto Teachers College ( ''Kumamoto shihan gakkō'') established in 1887, Kumamoto Pharmaceutical College ( ''Kumamoto yakugaku semmon gakkō'') established in 1885, the Fifth High School ( ''Dai-go kōtō gakkō'') established in 1887, Kumamoto Medical College ( ''Kumamoto ika daigaku'') established in 1896 and Kumamoto Technical College ( ''Kumamoto kōtō kōgyō gakkō'') established in 1897 though the precursor of the university was founded in 1925 as a prefectural university of Kumamoto and subsequently it was reorganized as a national university in 1929. The hub of the university at the time of foundation was the Fifth High School, which was a center for higher learning in western Japan during the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

and the university began with six departments, with an enrollment of about 1,100 students. In 1955 the Graduate School of Medicine was established at the university and other graduate schools were subsequently founded. In 2004 Kumamoto University became a National University Corporation under the National University Corporation Law. Although the university was founded during the Taishō period (1912–1926), it has earlier roots in Saishunkan () established on September in 1756 as

Han school The was an educational institution in the Edo period of Japan, originally established to educate children of ''daimyō'' (feudal lords) and their retainers in the domains outside of the capital. These institutions were also known as ''hangaku' ...

Kumamoto Domain The , also known as , was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Higo Province in modern-day Kumamoto Prefecture.

and Banjien () established on July in 1756 by Shigekata Hosokawa, who was a Japanese

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' of the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

Campuses

The university has four campuses, two campuses in the Kurokami district, the others in the Honjo-kuhonji district and the Oe district respectively, in the city of Kumamoto.

Kurokami North Campus

Both of Kurokami North and South Campuses are the main campus, which are located in the Kurokami district of Kumamoto at the foot of Mount Tatsuda. * Location: 2-40-1, Kurokami, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto * Departments: Faculty of Letters, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Law * Graduate schools: Graduate School of Education, Graduate School of Social and Cultural Sciences, School of Law * Centers and institutes: The Memorial Museum of The Fifth High School, Research Center for Higher Education etc.

Kurokami South Campus

The headquarters building of the university is located in this campus. * Location: 2-39-1, Kurokami, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto * Departments: Faculty of Science, Faculty of Engineering * Graduate schools: Graduate School of Science and Technology * Centers and institutes: Institute of Pulsed Power Science, Magnesium Research Center etc.

Honjo-kuhonji Campus

* Location: 1-1-1, Honjo, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto * Department: Faculty of Medicine * Graduate schools: Faculty of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Health Sciences * Centers and institutes: Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics, Center for AIDS Research etc.

Oe Campus

* Location: 5-1, Oehonmachi, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto * Department: School of Pharmacy * Graduate schools: Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Graduate School of Health Sciences * Centers and institutes: Institute of Resource Development and Analysis etc.

Organization

The university has about 10,000 students enrolled in its undergraduate and graduate programs. There are seven faculties, eight graduate schools and their affiliated centers and institutes. In addition, the university operates a kindergarten, an elementary school, a junior high school, and a school for disabled children.

Faculties

* Faculty of Letters * Faculty of Education * Faculty of Law * Faculty of Science * Faculty of Medicine * School of Pharmacy * Faculty of Engineering

Graduate schools

* Graduate School of Education * Graduate School of Social and Cultural Sciences * Graduate School of Science and Technology * School of Law * Faculty of Life Sciences * Graduate School of Medical Sciences * Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences * Graduate School of Health Sciences

Research Centers

* Center for Multimedia and Information Technologies * Center for Globalization * Research Center for Higher Education * Center for Policy Studies * The Memorial Museum of The Fifth High School * Institute for e-Learning Development * Center for Marine Environment Studies * Magnesium Research Center * Institute of Resource Development and Analysis * Center for AIDS Research * Environmental Safety Center * Research Center for Buried Cultural Properties * Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics * Institute of Pulsed Power Science

Affiliated Centers, Institutes and Schools

* Priority Organization for Innovation and Excellence * Kumamoto University Innovative Collaboration Organization (KICO) * Organization for Globalization * Organization for General Education * Health Care Center * Kumamoto University affiliated schools * Eisei-Bunko Research Center

Notable people

Academics

Hiroaki Mitsuya is a Japanese virologist famous for his role in discovery of the anti-HIV drug zidovudine (AZT) as well as other anti-AIDS drugs including didanosine (ddI) and zalcitabine (ddC). Mitsuya was born in Sasebo, Nagasaki and received his M.D. and Ph. ...

virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, thei ...

famous for his role in discovery of the anti-

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

drug

zidovudine Zidovudine (ZDV), also known as azidothymidine (AZT), is an antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use in combination with other antiretrovirals. It may be used to prevent mother-to-child ...

(AZT) *

Yasuhiro Muramatsu Yasuhiro is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yasuhiro can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *康弘, "healthy, vast" *康広, "healthy, wide" *康寛, "healthy, generosity" ...

, medical scientist, famous for advocator for the

enhanced permeability and retention effect The enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect is a controversial concept by which molecules of certain sizes (typically liposomes, nanoparticles, and macromolecular drugs) tend to accumulate in tumor tissue much more than they do in normal ...

* Kenichiro Aoki, earth scientist * Chuhei Takashima, archaeologist *

Masazumi Harada was a Japanese doctor and medical researcher. His most famous work covered the effects of Minamata disease, a type of severe mercury poisoning that occurred in the city of Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture during the 1950s and 1960s. His publications i ...

, researcher of

Minamata disease Minamata disease is a neurological disease caused by severe mercury poisoning. Signs and symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, loss of peripheral vision, and damage to hearing and speech. In extrem ...

Takeshi Yamakawa Takeshi ( in hiragana or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings *武, "warrior" *毅, "strong" *猛, "fierce" *健, "healthy" *剛, "sturdy" *彪, "spotted" *威, "intimidate" *壮, "robust" *丈, "length" *雄, "mascu ...

, researcher in the area of

Fuzzy logic Fuzzy logic is a form of many-valued logic in which the truth value of variables may be any real number between 0 and 1. It is employed to handle the concept of partial truth, where the truth value may range between completely true and completely ...

, among other achievements helped

Omron , styled as OMRON, is a Japanese electronics company based in Kyoto, Japan. Omron was established by in 1933 (as the ''Tateishi Electric Manufacturing Company'') and incorporated in 1948. The company originated in an area of Kyoto called ""( ja ...

to become a leader in this field during the 1980s and 1990s * Meng Yonggang, Tribologist, Director, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University

Politics

* Yasuyuki Eda, politician, House of Representatives member

Business

* Yukinori Kuwano PhD,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, former president of Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. * Kazunobu Abe, businessman, CEO of Sakai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. * Kazuma Tateishi, founder of OMRON Corporation

Art

Takehiko Inoue is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for the basketball series ''Slam Dunk'' (1990–1996), and the ''jidaigeki'' manga ''Vagabond'', which are two of the best-selling manga series in history. Many of his works are about basketball, I ...

, manga artist

Entertainment

Miyako Miyazaki is a Japanese fashion model and beauty pageant winner of the Miss Universe Japan competition in 2003. References {{DEFAULTSORT:Miyazaki, Miyako 1978 births Japanese actresses Japanese beauty pageant winners Japanese female mode ...

, model, 4th runner up of

Miss Universe 2003 Miss Universe 2003, the 52nd Miss Universe pageant, was held on June 3, 2003 at the Figali Convention Center in Panama City, Panama. Amelia Vega of the Dominican Republic was crowned by Justine Pasek of Panama as her successor at the end of the ...

Keiko Saito is a Japanese actress and talent. Filmography TV dramas ; NHK ; Nippon TV ; Tokyo Broadcasting System ; Fuji Television ; TV Asahi ; TV Tokyo Films Variety, life information programmes Documentaries Bibliography Discogra ...

, actress * Yoshiko Miyazaki, actress

Literature

Akira Mitsuoka Akira may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Akira'' (franchise), a Japanese cyberpunk franchise ** ''Akira'' (manga), a 1980s cyberpunk manga by Katsuhiro Otomo ** ''Akira'' (1988 film), an anime film adaptation of the manga ** ''Akira'' (vide ...

, author, winner of Naoki prize

Athletes

* Rio Kamikaze, female Kickboxer *

Mr. Gannosuke is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) under the ring name . Honda was quickly pushed as "Mr. Gannosuke" due to his resemblance to the actor Ashiya Gannosuke and he beg ...

, professional wrestler

References

External links

*
Kumamoto University website
{{Super Global University Japanese national universities Buildings and structures in Kumamoto Universities and colleges in Kumamoto Prefecture 1925 establishments in Japan