International Christian University

International Christian University

国際基督教大学
Type	Private, liberal arts college
Established	June 15, 1949
President	Dr. Junko Hibiya
Academic staff	147
Undergraduates	2,934
Postgraduates	237
Location	Mitaka , Tokyo , Japan
Campus	Suburban
Nickname	ICU
Website	www.icu.ac.jp

International Christian University (国際基督教大学, Kokusai Kirisutokyō Daigaku) is a non-denominational private university located in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan. Commonly known as ICU (both within Japan and abroad), the university was founded in 1949. ICU offers 32 majors in undergraduate program as the liberal arts college in Japan.

Institution

History

International Christian University in 1950s

ICU was founded in 1949. With an emphasis on reconciliation and peace, ICU was envisaged as a “University of Tomorrow,” a place where Japanese and international students would live together and learn to serve the needs of an emerging, more interconnected world. When students enter ICU they sign the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and they are challenged to commit themselves to help bring about social justice and world peace. Due to this commitment to human rights, Eleanor Roosevelt delivered ICU's first convocation address.

According to JICUF (Japan ICU Foundation), "Concerted fundraising campaigns were initiated in both Japan and in North America. Hisato Ichimada, the Governor of the Bank of Japan who was Buddhist, headed the Japan campaign that raised the funds necessary to purchase a large tract of land for the university. The Honorary Chair of the US fundraising campaign was General Douglas MacArthur, and the North American public responded with generous contributions as well".

Campus

ICU's main campus of 150 wooded acres is located in west Tokyo. Downtown Tokyo is half an hour's train ride away. Computer and internet access is available throughout campus.

The campus sits on ancient pre-Jomon and Jomon archaeological remains, which gives students the opportunity to participate in archaeological fieldwork. Excavated items found on the campus are on permanent display in the Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum. In addition, the campus' location is directly on the former location of a Nakajima Aircraft Company factory, which came close to producing a long-range bomber capable of flying from Tokyo to New York and back during World War II

In a quiet wooded area of the campus and through a large thatched gate is the Taizanso Garden. Built in the 1920s, the garden includes a traditional Japanese tea house and the historically significant One-Mat Room constructed out of wood gathered from sacred and historic sites throughout Japan.

ICU also owns a 240-acre (0.97 km²) campus in Nasu and a 13-acre (53,000 m²) retreat center in Karuizawa.

Academics

ICU offers bachelor's degrees in liberal arts fields, as well as master's and doctoral degrees in education, public administration, comparative culture and natural sciences. About 18% of the faculty come from overseas (primarily English-speaking countries). There is a strong English language program (ELP), taught by both tenured and contract faculty English teachers, which was recently embroiled in a contentious curricular reform leading to the name being changed to the ELA (English for Liberal Arts program) in April, 2012.

Students choose one or two majors as single major, double major or major/minor. As of 2012, there are 31 majors.

• American Studies
• Anthropology
• Arts and Archaeology
• Asian Studies
• Biology
• Business
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Development Studies
• Economics
• Education
• Environmental Studies
• Gender and Sexuality Studies
• Global Studies
• International Relations
• Japan Studies
• Language Education
• Law
• Linguistics
• Literature
• Mathematics
• Media, Communication and Culture
• Music
• Peace Studies
• Philosophy and Religion
• Physics
• Politics
• Psychology
• Public Policy
• Sociology

ICU houses one of the Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution, partnering with Rotary International.

Japan ICU Foundation

The Japan ICU Foundation was incorporated in New York State on November 23, 1948, and helped in the effort to establish ICU in 1953. Today, the foundation maintains two non-profit corporations: The Japan ICU Foundation, Inc. and the JICUF Endowment, Inc.

The Japan ICU Foundation supports ICU in a variety of ways, including providing scholarships, running a faculty exchange program, providing funding for international programs and projects and helping to fund new buildings on campus. The Foundation has offices in New York City. The current President of JICUF is Dr. David Vikner.

ICU Dining Hall

The ICU Dining Hall also known as Gakki (ガッキ), is the official cafeteria of International Christian University. Rebuilt in 2010, the ICU Cafeteria is a public, self-service cafeteria, and is one of the newest and most renowned buildings on campus.

Student life

Demographics

As of 2011, ICU had 2851 undergraduates studying in the College of Liberal Arts, with a 1041 male students and 1810 female students. The ICU Graduate School had 150 students, with 64 men and 86 women. 90.5% of ICU's undergraduate and graduate students are Japanese citizens, and the remainder represent 44 countries.

The majority of ICU students live off-campus, either at home with their families or in apartments. As of 2010, about 600 students were living on campus.

Student clubs/circles

ICU students are known for their remarkable energy and initiative in creating a kaleidoscope of student-led and student-managed co-curricular activities. Currently, there are about 100 student-led clubs and organizations in the arts, sports, academic and social fields. New clubs are formed as student interest dictates, and most ICU students participate in one or more of these organizations.

Accreditation

Accreditation actions had been taken at the American Academy for Liberal Education Board of Trustees Meeting at November 2005.

• International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan - granted Programmatic Accreditation, through November 2015

Academic rankings

University rankings (overall)

WE National	Employment	24
NBP Greater Tokyo	Reputation	10
Shimano National	Selectivity	SA
QS Asia (Asian Ranking version)	General	151

There are several rankings related to ICU, shown below.

General rankings

QS World University Rankings ranked ICU as 151st in Asia in 2010.

Alumni rankings

According to the Weekly Economist's (ja) 2010 rankings and the (ja) article on 2006/10/16, graduates from ICU have the 24th best employment rate in 400 major companies, and their average graduate salary is the 4th best in Japan.

Popularity and selectivity

ICU is one of the most selective universities in Japan. Its entrance difficulty is usually considered as one of the top among 730 private universities. National and Public universities apply different kind of exams. Thus it's only comparable between universities in the same category. E.g. ja published Hensachi (the indication showing the entrance difficulties by prep schools) rankings. Japanese journalist ja ranks its entrance difficulty as SA (most selective/out of 11 scales) in Japan, which includes only 4 private universities and 11 national universities.

Alumni

• Kei Akagi – Jazz pianist
• Princess Mako of Akishino (class of 2014) – A member of the Japanese imperial family; she is the first-born granddaughter of the reigning Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
• Princess Kako of Akishino (class of 2015) – A member of the Japanese imperial family; she is the younger sister of Princess Mako.
• Takeshi Amemiya – The Edward Ames Edmonds Professor of Economics at Stanford University
• Toshio Arima – President of Fuji Xerox
• Betsy Boze (née: Vogel) – CEO and Dean of Kent State University Stark
• Albert Chan (1975) - President of Hong Kong Baptist University
• Kazuo Hirai – President and CEO of Sony Corporation
• Hiroaki Kitano – President and CEO of Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc, Professor of Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
• Shigeru Miyagawa – Professor of Linguistics & Kochi-Manjiro Professor of Japanese Language and Culture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Yoko Narahashi - Prominent Film Producer and Casting Director
• Mariko Peters - former Dutch politician and civil servant
• Jay Rockefeller – U.S. Senator from West Virginia
• Hirotaka Takeuchi – Professor at Harvard Business School and former dean of the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy at Hitotsubashi University
• Kazuko Yokoo – Justice of the Supreme Court of Japan
• Lydia Yu-Jose – Japanologist and professor at the Ateneo de Manila University
• Nozomi Watanabe - Ice Dancer. She regularly dances with Akiyuki Kido. They are the three time Japanese national champions and placed 15th at the Torino Olympics.

Faculty

• Iwao Ayusawa, Joined staff in 1952.

See also

• International Christian University High School

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• ICU website
• ICU Science Faculty website (bilingual)
• ICU Social Science Research Institute (bilingual)
• English for Liberal Arts program website
• Japan ICU Foundation
• ICU High School website (Japanese)