is a private Christian university in

Shibuya Shibuya (渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, Japan. Originally established in 1874 by missionaries from the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. ...

, it was reconfigured in its current form in 1949 as part of

Aoyama Gakuin is an educational institute in Tokyo, Japan, which comprises Aoyama Gakuin University, Aoyama Gakuin Women's Junior College, Aoyama Gakuin Senior High School, Aoyama Gakuin Junior High School, Aoyama Gakuin Elementary School, and Aoyama Gakuin ...

. Aoyama Gakuin University had its 140th anniversary in 2014 and is one of Japan's oldest higher education facilities. The university's undergraduate and graduate programs include courses on literature, law, economics, business, international politics, economics, communication, science, engineering and cultural studies. The university graduate programs include international management, law and professional accounting. Aoyama Gakuin University has participated in

Hakone Ekiden , officially called the , is one of the most prominent university '' ekiden'' (relay marathon) races of the year held between Tokyo and Hakone in Japan on January 2 and 3. The race is telecast on Nippon Television. This two-day race from Ōtemachi ...

, an annual university relay race between Tokyo and Hakone in Japan. Recently they won the races in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2022.

General information

The main campus, located in Omotesando in central Tokyo, is complemented by the Sagamihara Campus in

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanag ...

. The latter houses the College of Science and Sports. The university has graduated around 180,000 students and employs over 1,600 full and part-time faculty members. Aoyama Gakuin University is accredited by the British University Association and is a member of the British Association of Private College and Universities. The university maintains a number of active international exchange programs for students and faculty. Many of the students and faculty have attended universities and research institutes abroad, while the institution itself has attracted numerous outstanding scholars and students from around the world to its campuses.

Organization

Undergraduate programs

* College of Literature * College of Education, Psychology and Human Studies * College of Economics * Faculty of Law * School of Business * School of International Politics, Economics and Communication (SIPEC) * School of Cultural and Creative Studies * College of Science and Engineering * School of Social Informatics * School of Global Studies and Collaboration * College of Community Studies (started in 2019) * The Aoyama Standard University-Wide Universal Education System

Graduate programs

* Graduate School of Literature * Graduate School of Education, Psychology and Human Studies * Graduate School of Economics * Graduate School of Law * Graduate School of Business * Graduate School of International Politics, Economics and Communication * Graduate School of Cultural and Creative Studies * Graduate School of Science and Engineering * Graduate School of Social Informatics
Graduate School of International Management
( MBA) * Law School * Graduate School of Professional Accountancy

Research institutes

* Research Institute of Aoyama Gakuin University * Economics Research Center * Business Law Research Center * SACRE * Global Business Research Center * Global Politics and Economy Research Center * Information Science Research Center * WTO Research Center * Center for Advanced Technology * Center for Machinery Analysis

Campus

* Aoyama Campus (4-4-25, Shibuya,

, Tokyo) : Includes two registered Tangible Cultural Properties, "Majima Memorial Hall（間島記念館）" and "Berry Hall". * Sagamihara Campus (5-10-1, Fuchinobe, Sagamihara, Kanagawa) * Midorigaoka Ground (2-6097-1, Midorigaoka, Sagamihara, Kanagawa) * Machida Ground (1571, Kotani, Onoji-cho, Machida, Tokyo)

AGU Gymnasium

AGU Gymnasium is an

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...

in Aoyama campus. It is the home arena of the Sun Rockers Shibuya of the

B.League The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that ...

, Japan's professional basketball league. File:Aoyama Gakuin Majima Memorial Hall 02.JPG, Majima Memorial Hall in Aoyama campus File:Aoyama Gakuin Berry Hall.JPG, Berry Hall in Aoyama campus File:青山学院大学相模原キャンパスB棟.JPG, Sagamihara campus Bldg.B File:Aoyama Gakuin University Goucher Memorial Hall.JPG, Goucher Memorial Hall in Aoyama campus File:Statue of Love Yoshizumi Yokoe.JPG, Statue of Love in Majima Archives File:Aoyama Gakuin Univ. Sagamihara campus chapel.jpg, Chapel at the Sagamihara campus

Rankings

The school ranks 11th in the country in the number of alumni elected to the

National Diet The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

, and 13th in the number of alumni holding executive-level positions in the country with listed companies. Its graduates rank 8th in Japan in the number of successful passings of the national CPA exam. The university is also on the list of top 20 most popular universities in Tokyo. The main campus is located in the Shibuya area, and the students are generally viewed as having come from more affluent backgrounds and are regarded as sophisticated. The school has been lauded for its undergraduate focus on the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...

and business education. In the 2020–2021 University Brand Image Survey conducted by Nikkei BP Consulting, Aoyama Gakuin University ranked 5th overall in the Greater Tokyo Area and 4th out of the private universities after Waseda, Keio, and Sophia Universities. * QS World university rankings 201: 701＋ ** Modern Languages 201: 151–200 * QS Asian university rankings 201: 201–250

Professors

* Robert March (

International business International business refers to the trade of goods, services, technology, capital and/or knowledge across national borders and at a global or transnational scale. It involves cross-border transactions of goods and services between two or mor ...

) * Kumiko Haba (Political science, International Relations) * Karl-Friedrich Lenz (German law, EU Law) * Masami Sumiyoshi (Philosophy of law) * Noritada Matsuda (Politics, Political science) * Yoshikazu Miki (Tax law, president of the university) * Akira Ishii (

Criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and s ...

) * Junichi Kikuchi (

Intellectual property law Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

) * Munehide Nishizawa ( Civil procedure, French law) * Shin Hae Bong (International law) * Yasunori Osono ( Internal medicine)

Notable graduates

Politicians

* Tsuyoshi Takagi (member of the house of representatives, Minister for Reconstruction) *

Kenko Matsuki is a Japanese politician and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet. Overview A native of Sapporo, Hokkaidō and graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2003 aft ...

(member of the house of representatives) * Shunichi Yamaguchi (member of the house of representatives, Minister of state for science and technology policy) * Haruko Arimura (member of the House of councilors, Minister in charge of women's activities) * Renhō (member of the house of councilors, the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, consumer affairs minister) *

Hiroya Ebina is a Japanese politician. He is the incumbent mayor of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan. References Living people Mayors of places in Hokkaido People from Kushiro, Hokkaido 1959 births {{japan-mayor-stub ...

(the mayor of kushiro city) * Hiroshi Nakada (the former mayor of Yokohama, member of the House of Councillors)

Writers

Kiyoshi Kawakami was a Japanese Christian journalist who published several books in the United States and the United Kingdom. He was born in Yonezawa, educated in the law in Japan, and was for a short time engaged in newspaper work in that country. He sometimes ...

(Christian journalist) *

Atsuko Asano is a Japanese actress.
, sponichi.co.jp; accessed September 3, 2015. Upon marrying Tsutomu Uozumi, a reputed ...

(novelist) * Hideyuki Kikuchi (novelist) * Fusanosuke Natsume (caricaturist) * Nejime Shōichi (poet) * Seiichi Morimura (novelist) * Shigeaki Kato (novelist)

Film and television

Yumi Asō , better known by the stage name , is a Japanese actress. She is a niece of singer Chiyo Okumura. She married actor in March 2004, and they had one child. The couple separated less than two years later, and officially divorced in 2008. Biography ...

(actress) *

Mari Hoshino is a Japanese actress and singer. Background She graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University. Most well known for her lead role as Otome Sakamoto in T.B.S. drama, ''Kinpachi-sensei'', Hoshino has starred in several dramas in recent years. Her main r ...

(actress) * Naomi Kawashima (actress) * Horan Chiaki (actress, caster) * Emi Kobayashi (TV performer) * Ai Maeda (actress) *

Yōji Matsuda is a Japanese actor and voice actor from Tokyo, Japan. Early life He was born in Setagaya, Tokyo. His older brother is Naoyuki Matsuda, a musical translator and professor at Komazawa University. After studying at Aoyama Gakuin High School, he d ...

(actor) *

Rie Oh is a TV sportscaster and presenter on the J-Wave radio station in Japan.J-Wave profile
R ...

(sports caster) *

Sayaka Ohara is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Haikyō. Her major roles include Alicia Florence in ''Aria'', Milly Ashford in '' Code Geass'', Erza Scarlet in '' Fairy Tail'', Irisviel in the '' Fate/Zero'' and '' Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya ...

(

voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

) *

Ayana Tsubaki is a Japanese TV personality and fashion model. Biography Tsubaki registered at Aoyama Gakuin University while presenting as a male, but left in the second year to work at a transsexual bar in Kabukichō, Tokyo. In July 2006, she underwent g ...

(model and TV personality) * Tetsuya Watari (actor) *

Christel Takigawa , commonly known as , is a French-Japanese television announcer and news presenter. She is the wife of politician Shinjirō Koizumi. Biography Takigawa Lardux Christel Masami was born in Paris, France, to a Japanese mother and a French fathe ...

(TV announcer) * Shinobu Terajima (Actress, the Best Actress award at the 60th

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

)

Musicians

Keisuke Kuwata is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and frontman for the Southern All Stars, as well of his own solo band, the Kuwata band. He has also done a significant amount of scoring music for films. He went to Aoyama Gakuin University ...

(musician, leader of Southern All Stars) *

Kazuyuki Sekiguchi is a Japanese musician, best known for playing the bass guitar for Southern All Stars.Riantrisnanto, Rully.Band Lawas Southern All Stars Kembali Ramaikan Permusikan Jepang (in Indonesian), June 26, 2013. As a solo artist, he has played ukulel ...

(musician, member of Southern All Stars) * Masato Nakamura (musician, member of Dreams Come True) * Yuko Hara (musician, member of Southern All Stars) * Shinji Harada (singer) * Noriyuki Makihara (singer) * Love Psychedelico (musician) * Shigeaki Kato (singer, member of

NEWS News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to event ...

) * Stephanie (singer) * Nana Tanimura (singer) * Rei Fujita (singer, member of DUSTZ) * Jun Senoue (musician, member of

Crush 40 Crush 40 is a Japanese-American hard rock band. The group consists of guitarist and composer Jun Senoue and vocalist Johnny Gioeli, although Senoue has featured other lead vocalists on a Crush 40 album. Crush 40 is best known for their contri ...

) * Mari Hamada (singer) *

Alexandros (band) , stylized as lexandros'' is a Japanese rock band, signed to RX-Records and managed by UK Project. On March 28, 2014, the band renamed to lexandrosfrom hampagneon request from Bureau du Champagne, Japan. On November 28, 2014, it was annou ...

(rock band)

Sports

* Tadahito Iguchi (baseball player, MLB

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

) * Yosuke Takasu (baseball player,

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shoppin ...

) * Hiroshi Ogawa (baseball player, Chiba Lotte Marines) *

Shinsuke Nakamura is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. Nakamura is known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, with his fir ...

(wrestler) *

Rika Hiraki Rika Hiraki ( ja, 平木理化, born 6 December 1971) is a former professional Japanese tennis player. She won the mixed-doubles title at the 1997 French Open (with Mahesh Bhupathi Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indi ...

(tennis player) *

Daisuke Nakajima is a retired Japanese racing driver; the son of Satoru Nakajima and the younger brother of Kazuki Nakajima, both of whom have driven in Formula One. Career Having started his career in go-karts on the Japanese circuit, Nakajima moved into singl ...

(racecar driver)

Business

* Hajime Satomi (president of

Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

) * Makoto Fujita (president of CyberAgent) *

Akio Shigemitsu Shin Dong-bin (; born February 14, 1956) is a Korean-Japanese businessman. He also has a Japanese name Akio Shigemitsu ( ja, 重光昭夫, translit=Shigemitsu Akio). As of 2012, he was CEO of the South Korean conglomerate Lotte Corporation and ...

(president of Lotte Korea) * Ryo Morikawa (president of

LINE Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Art ...

) * Shinichi Koide (chairman, president and CEO of Salesforce.com Co., Ltd.) * Ryuichi Isaka (president of Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd.) * Akiyoshi Koji (president of Asahi Breweries, Ltd.)

Researchers

* Tetsu Tamura (meteorologist, oceanographer) * Kumiko Haba (political scientist, international relations) *

Masaaki Shirakawa is a Japanese economist, central banker and the 30th Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), and professor at Aoyama Gakuin University. He is also a Director and Vice-Chairman of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Early life Shirakawa w ...

(The 30th governor of the

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan. Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It has its headquarters in Chūō, Tokyo. History Like most modern Japanese institutions, the Bank of Japan was foun ...

, economist) * Eisuke Sakakibara (former vice-minister for finance for international affairs, economist) * Takenori Inoki (economist, honorary professor of

Osaka University , abbreviated as , is a public research university located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of Japan's former Imperial Universities and a Designated National University listed as a "Top Type" university in the Top Global University Project. ...

) * Nobuo Ikeda (economist, blogger) * Hiroyuki Suzuki (Architectural historian) * Tamostu Aoki (The commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, director of The National Art Center, Tokyo)

References

External links

English homepage for Aoyama Gakuin University

Homepage for Aoyama Gakuin University
{{authority control Private universities and colleges in Japan Basketball venues in Japan Shibuya Sun Rockers Shibuya United Church of Christ in Japan 1874 establishments in Japan Association of Christian Universities and Colleges in Asia Universities and colleges in Tokyo Educational institutions established in 1874 Christian universities and colleges in Japan