Okayama University is a national university in Japan. The main campus is located in Tsushima-Naka, Okayama, Okayama Prefecture. The school was founded in 1870 and it was established as a university in 1949.
History
Okayama University was originally founded as the Medical Training Place in 1870 by Okayama-Han. After the abolition of the han system, it became the Okayama Prefectural Medical School in 1880. In 1888 it was merged into a national school, the Third Higher Middle School to constitute the Medical Faculty. The Medical Faculty became an independent school in 1901 and was renamed Okayama Medical Speciality School, a four-year medical school for men ages 17–21 or above. In 1922, the school was chartered as Okayama Medical College, a four-year medical college for men ages 19–23 or above. In 1949, after World War II, the college was merged with other national and public colleges in Okayama Prefecture to establish Okayama University, under Japan's new education system. The predecessors of the university were Okayama Medical College, the Sixth Higher School, Okayama Normal School, Okayama Youth's Normal School and Okayama Agricultural College. The new campus was the former camp of the Imperial Japanese Army. After occupation army left the camp in 1947, the students of the Sixth Higher School guarded the camp, residing in the former military barracks. Later, the camp became their campus. The faculties of Okayama University, except the Medical School, were gradually relocated to Tsushima Campus. The university at first had five faculties: Law and Letters, Education, Science, Agriculture and Medicine. The latter history of the university is as follows:
1951: Ohara Institute for Agricultural Research joined the university.
*Later reorganized into the Institute for Agricultural and Biological Sciences and then the Research Institute for Bioresources.
1960: the Faculty of Engineering was established.
1967: Professor Jun Kobayashi announced the cause of Itai-itai disease as cadmium poisoning. Itai-itai disease, was a severe pain disease affecting Toyama Prefecture as a result of mining over the course of 1,500 years.
In 1949, Okayama University set up the department of law, economics and literature at the same time as the university was founded. In those days, this was the only faculty of law in the region of Chugoku and Shikoku. Later in 1980, Okayama University reorganized the department and separated the faculty of law which became the department of law today. Then, in 2004, Okayama University reorganized again when the law graduate course was established.
Academics
Faculty of Economics: Department of Economics (including evening course)
Modern Economic Analysis
International Comparative Economics
Management and Accounting
Students who take this course work in administration, including management, organization, and strategy, and in accounting and financing, Students come to understand and develop insights into actual company operations. This course has students who want to be a certified public accountant or a licensed tax accountant.
Department of Electrical and Communication Engineering
Department of Information Technology
Department of Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology
Center for Engineering Innovation
Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology
Environmental science and technology has four departments: Environmental and Mathematical Sciences, Environmental and Civil Engineering, Environmental Management Engineering, and Environmental Chemistry and Materials. The environmental science and technology faculty began in 1995.
Faculty of Agriculture
Department of Agricultural Sciences
Matching Program Course
This is cross-faculty program designed to help students create their own integrated program matching individual career and academic interests. Students can take classes from other faculties which they are interested in and original classes in this course, so students can decide their major after thinking through many experiences.
