is a

distance learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

which has students from all over

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 accepted its first students in 1985.

History

Although founded by the national government initiative with a single-issue law and heavily subsidized by the government, it was established by as a , the university classified as a

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...

in Japan. It was founded on the basic system of

The Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The administration is based in

Chiba City is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It sits about east of the centre of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. The city became a government-designated city in 1992. In June 2019, its population was 979,768, with a population density of 3,605 people p ...

although it has offices and learning centers in each of Japan's 47 prefectures. The university offers accredited

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

and graduate

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

s. With nearly 90,000 students enrolled (in 2007), 45,000 students graduated from the university. It is one of the largest academic institutions in the nation, and qualifies as one of the world's mega universities. Since it was founded, over 780,000 students have taken courses from the institution.

Faculty of Liberal Arts

Bachelor's degree courses are available in six areas of study: Living and Welfare, Psychology and Education, Society and Industry, Humanities and Culture, Informatics, Nature and Environment.

2017 Syllabus

The syllabus is made up of foundation subjects, course subjects (introduction, speciality, and integrated), and graduation research units. Each study unit is supported by a specially written textbook, in conjunction with fifteen 45 minute recorded lectures. Many face-to-face lectures, condensed summer courses, and online units are also available. Apart from a very select few, subjects are offered in Japanese only. Humanities and Culture Informatics

OUJ as a broadcasting station

The OUJ Academia broadcasts lectures and administrative announcement programs. It owns television and radio broadcasting stations at the headquarters in

. All programs are recorded and edited at the headquarters and broadcasts on its Broadcasting Satellite (BS) channels to reach the whole nation. The broadcasts are exclusively in

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ma ...

as the

medium of instruction A medium of instruction (plural: media of instruction, or mediums of instruction) is a language used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the country or territory. If the first language of students is different from the offic ...

. Article 50-4-1 of the Broadcasting Act prohibits the OUJ from broadcasting commercial messages. The cost of the broadcasting system is subsidised by the national budget. Until September 2018, it was transmitted from the

Tokyo Tower is a communications and observation tower in the Shiba-koen district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, built in 1958. At , it is the second- tallest structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and i ...

via UHF television and

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

, and relayed at

Maebashi, Gunma is the capital city, capital Cities of Japan, city of Gunma Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 335,352 in 151,171 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The tot ...

to reach

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

. It is not affiliated with any other broadcasting networks (although there were supports from television stations in Tokyo at the beginning). During the period as a terrestrial television station it was the only purely independent/isolated terrestrial station in Japan.

Broadcast media

Reception is free to the general public. Nationwide on BS channel 231 (BS Campus ex) and 232 (BS Campus on) for television and channel 531 for radio. No contract charge or subscription fees are charged at OUJ-only recipients. Some cable television and cable radio also re-transmit the broadcasts.

References

External links

The Open University of Japan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Open University of Japan Private universities and colleges in Japan Open universities Television stations in Japan Radio in Japan Universities and colleges in Chiba Prefecture Independent television stations in Japan 1983 establishments in Japan Educational institutions established in 1983 Educational and instructional television channels Television channels and stations established in 1985 Radio stations established in 1985