Doshisha University
Doshisha University is one of the oldest private universities in Japan, founded in 1875 by the Christian educator Niijima Jo, who was the first Japanese to graduate from an American university.
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Kyoto Area Guide: Doshisha University 同志社大学
Doshisha University along with Kyoto University and Ritsumeikan University is one of the top three universities in Kyoto. Doshisha is one of the oldest private universities in Japan with a large student body of over 30,000 students studying on four campuses including Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts.
History of Doshisha University
Founded in 1875 in the early Meiji Period as Doshisha English School, the school achieved university status in 1920.
Doshisha was founded by Niijima Jo (1843-90), a Protestant educator who had spent time in America at at Phillips Academy and Amherst College and was the first Japanese student to graduate from an American college.
The original, main campus of Doshisha University is just north of Imadegawa Dori and the Imperial Palace (Gosho), and just south of Shokokuji Temple, located on what was once the property of the Satsuma domain (present-day Kagoshima).
Doshisha University, Imadegawa Campus, Kyoto, Japan
Doshisha University, Imadegawa Campus, Kyoto, Japan
The Imadegawa campus has a number of historic buildings, designated as Important Cultural Properties, including Doshisha Chapel and the Clark Memorial Hall.
The Kyotanabe Campus, in the south of Kyoto in Tanabe, was opened in 1986. The Kyotanabe Campus includes the Doshisha University Historical Museum with a collection of archeological exhibits from all over Japan.
The university's main campus, on Imadegawa, contains Amherst House, built in 1932, in the style of a New England Georgian style residence and a place of academic co-operation with Amherst College in the US.
Doshisha University, Imadegawa Campus, Kyoto, Japan
Doshisha University, Imadegawa Campus, Kyoto, Japan
Doshisha University (doshisha.ac.jp)
Karasuma-higashi-iru
Imadegawa-dori
Kamigyo-ku
Kyoto 602-8580
Tel: 075 251 3120 (General inquiries)
Kyotanabe Campus
1-3 Tatara Miyakodani
Kyotanabe-shi
Kyoto-fu 610-039
Tel: 0774 65 7010 (Section for General Affairs, Kyotanabe Campus)
Doshisha University Campus Access
From Kyoto Station, take the #101 city bus bound for Horikawa Imadegawa. The #59, #201 and #203 buses also stop outside the Imadegawa campus.
The nearest Kyoto subway station on the north-south Karasuma Line is Imadegawa Station.
To reach the Tanabe campus from downtown Kyoto ride the subway to Takeda and change to the Kintetsu Kyoto Line for Kodo Station. The Katamachi Line runs to the nearer Doshisha-mae Station from Kyobashi Station in Osaka.
For a full listing of Kyoto Museums & Art Galleries click here
Doshisha University, Kyotanabe Campus, Kyoto, Japan