is a co-educational

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 Hamamatsu city,

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

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 ...

History

Seirei Christopher University began as the “Bethel Home”, a private

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

established in 1932 by local Japanese Christians in Hamamatsu. From the beginning, the sanatorium faced difficulties with finances and hostility from its neighbors due to prejudices against tuberculosis sufferers and followers of Christianity. Although the sanatorium raised funds to acquire land outside of the city by 1937, it continued to experience problems due to the increasingly

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...

attitude of the pre-war Japanese government. An unexpected donation on Christmas Day, 1939, directly from

Emperor Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

, resolved both its financial issues and problems with the local government. In the immediate

postwar period In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

, the sanatorium expanded into education by forming the “Enshū School of Christ”, the forerunner of both "Seirei Christopher High School" and "Seirei Christopher University" in 1949. Seeing the need for increased medical services in postwar Japan, the sanatorium created the "Seirei Vocational School for Practical Nurses" in 1952; it changed its name in 1969 to the "Seirei Gakuen Junior College of Nursing". In 1992, with the financial help of three billion

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

from the Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Company, a four-year "Seirei Christopher College of Nursing" was founded. Seirei Christopher College of Nursing changed its name to "Seirei Christopher College" when the School of Social Work was established in 2002. The School of Social Work started a

graduate studies Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

programs in April 2004. Also in 2004, the School of Rehabilitation Sciences was founded.

Academic Programmes

* School of Nursing **Department of Nursing ***Department of Nursing ***Department of Public Health ***Department of Midwifery **Graduate Programs of Nursing *School of Rehabilitation Sciences **Department of Rehabilitation Sciences ***Division of Physical Therapy ***Division of Occupational Therapy ***Division of Speech Therapy **Graduate Programs of Rehabilitation Sciences *School of Social Work **Department of Social Work ***Division of Care Work ***Division of Social Work **Graduate Programs of Social Work

External links

Official websiteJapan Student Services Organization
Educational institutions established in 1992 Christian universities and colleges in Japan Private universities and colleges in Japan Universities and colleges in Shizuoka Prefecture Buildings and structures in Hamamatsu Tokio Marine 1992 establishments in Japan {{shizuoka-university-stub