Yokohama National University (YNU) can trace its history back nearly 150 years to the founding of its predecessor school in Yokohama, Japan’s second city and principal port.
In 1949 it became a Japanese National University after incorporating two local institutions as well as the Yokohama College of Economics and the Yokohama Institute of Technology.
Yokohama National University has, since then, incorporated several other institutions and is now home to five graduate schools and four undergraduate faculties. It encourages students and members of staff to uphold what it calls its four fundamental principles: “Be Active,” “Be Innovative,” “Be Open” and “Be Global.”
The university sprawls over a large, leafy campus in the heart of Yokohama city. Yokohama itself is a vibrant, bustling metropolis. Described as Japan’s "gateway to the world" it was among the first ports in Japan to open itself to international trade and as a result Yokohama has an international, cosmopolitan feel.
YNU perpetuates this history of international exchange and cooperation via its collaborations with foreign institutions and its suite of international programmes, which currently host students from more than 50 different countries.
International programmes are taught in English at the undergraduate and postgraduate level and offer international students the chance to study and experience life in a vibrant Japanese city.
Notable alumni of Yokohama National University are the chemist Akira Fujishima Chemist; Katsuhiko Kawasoe, a former president and chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Motors; Masaya Nakamura, the founder of Namco Co. and the so-called "father of Pacman"; and the film director Shunji Iwai.
