Welcome to the Kinjo Gakuin University website, and thank you for your interest. My name is Hajime Togari, Chairman, school corporation of Kinjo Gakuin.

Kinjo Gakuin was founded in 1889 as a women's private school by a missionary of the Southern Presbyterian Church in USA named Mrs. Annie Edgar Randolph. The Japanese word “Kinjo” means “Golden Castle,” and our school was named so by our founder, Mrs. Randolph. Golden Castle Women’s School has developed over a century into an educational complex consisting of a university, a high school, a junior high school, and a kindergarten. It holds approximately 7,100 students and about 900 teachers and administrative staff at the present time.

Kinjo Gakuin University is located in Omori, a suburban area of the city of Nagoya, which has a population of 2.3 million people. Our campus is safe, spacious, wooded, and blessed with the beauties of nature, including ponds and wetlands of over 260,000 square meters.

At the center of the campus, we have a beautiful chapel called Ella Houston Memorial Chapel where the protestant morning service is held every day for 15 minutes just before the class begins. The service is carried out in Japanese and, occasionally, English. Participants include students, teachers, and administrative staff. Everyone enjoys worship led by pastors or chaplains, as well as beautiful hymns played by pipe organists who are also university students and teachers.

In the last ten years, about 300 international students from partner schools all over the world, including the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Thailand, Korea, China, and more, have studied and enjoyed the wonderful university life here at Kinjo Gakuin University.

The Center for International Exchange Programs is located in the main building of the campus and continuously provides a lot of support programs for foreign students. It really helps students enjoy Japanese culture and university life. We are planning to increase the number of partner colleges and universities so that we can welcome more foreign students from abroad.

I can’t wait to see you soon on the Kinjo Gakuin University campus.
Thank you.

Kinjo Gakuin will celebrate its 133nd anniversary this year and its 73nd year since becoming a university.

Kinjo Gakuin was founded through private investment in 1889 by a missionary of the Southern Presbyterian Church in USA named Annie Randolph, who was concerned about the lack of progress in women’s education in Nagoya and felt the need for women to develop character through scripture. Her project started with just three students.

Our predecessors were unified in their insistence on educating everyone based on the Bible, which contains the true teachings of the Christian faith. The purpose of education at Kinjo Gakuin, therefore, is to turn out independent women who know the love of God, who love their neighbors, and who are able to help bring peace to our world. Our goal is to develop women who carry on these spiritual principles and traditions, are rich in knowledge and skills, and able to take a leading role in society.

In terms of specific policies designed to achieve these aims, our educational programs offer a broad curriculum with a focus on courses that allow our students to acquire the professional qualifications they seek. On the personal side, we offer an advisor system in which students are free to seek consultation on any and every aspect of school life, encouraging them to take advantage of our career support services in particular as they develop their future plans. We also offer assistance through our scholarship programs, heath support systems, and more. Kinjo Gakuin University also has a KIDS Center, Center for Research on Women’s Futures and other spaces, classes, and consultation opportunities designed to help women in their personal growth even after they graduate.

At Kinjo Gakuin, our school motto is “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7), and our educational slogan is “Be strong. Be kind.”

The slogan “Be strong. Be kind.” represents a simple way to understand the founding spirit of our school and our overall approach to education. Underlying it is the idea of educating women based on evangelical Christian principles. It is through the learning process that we are able to become more broadly cultured, gain highly specialized knowledge, develop precision skills, and more. These are the qualities that give us tremendous power out in the world. This is what it means to “be strong”, and as Japan faces an aging society and declining birthrate, women are increasingly called upon to demonstrate these strengths in order to make their mark on society. At the same time, if we don’t have a sympathetic and kind heart towards others, we cannot take part in the world. This is what it means to “be kind”, and it is this kindness that women demonstrate when they take on the invaluable tasks of running a household or raising children. A Christian education makes it possible to learn and develop in a way that combines both of these principles.

No matter how intensely they strive, no human being is complete without combining their talents and skills with others. And while striving to become more complete in ourselves is a worthy goal, no amount of self-sufficiency can get us through a natural disaster or other unexpected calamity, as events like these show us just how powerless we are on our own. In overcoming these challenges, however, we find that we are protected despite our weaknesses; it becomes impossible to deny that it is almighty God who gives us life, and who serves as our source of true power and true kindness.