The University of Kitakyushu

The University of Kitakyushu’s predecessor, Kokura Foreign Studies College, was founded in 1946. It was only renamed the University of Kitakyushu in 2000. It is a public university located in Kitakyushu, Japan. The university is comprised of two campuses, Kitagata and Hibikino. Kitagata is the university’s oldest campus and has a number of facilities including a 14-story main tower, a library, and a Centre for International Education and Exchange. The Hibikino campus is situated in the Kitakyushu Science and Research Park, alongside various other scientific institutes. This campus is involved in joint research programmes and academic exchanges with nearby universities.The Park has communal state-of-the-art facilities, available for students to use. The university aims to contribute to the environmental and technological developments of the 21st century using the Park’s resources. Students at the university have the choice of five undergraduate faculties to specialise in: economics and business administration; foreign studies; humanities; law (all of which are taught at the Kitagata campus) and environmental engineering (which is based at the Hibikino campus). The university’s graduate school has courses available in social system studies and environmental engineering. There is an extensive overseas study programme available at the university, with partnerships in the US, UK, Australia, China and South Korea. The study abroad programme was initiated in 2008. Working closely with the local community, the university is committed to using its education and research to solve regional problems. This was recognised in the 2008 University Regional Contribution Ranking as the university placed first out of 730 other Japanese universities.