Ochanomizu University (お茶の水女子大学, Ochanomizu Joshi Daigaku) is a women's national university in the Ōtsuka neighborhood of Bunkyō-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Ochanomizu is the name of a Tokyo neighborhood where the university was founded.

Ochanomizu University
お茶の水女子大学
South Gate entrance
TypeNational university
Established1875
PresidentKimiko Murofushi, Ph.D.[1]
Undergraduates2062 (as of 2012)[1]
Postgraduates933 (as of 2012)[1]
Location, ,
CampusUrban area
Websitewww.ocha.ac.jp

History

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The university traces its origins to 1875, when Tokyo Women's Normal School was founded in Tokyo's Ochanomizu neighborhood (now Yushima, Bunkyo-ku).[1][2] It subsequently underwent a series of name changes: "The Women's Campus of Tokyo Normal School", "The Women's Campus of Higher Normal School", "Women's Higher Normal School", and "Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School".[1]

The original campus was destroyed in the Great Kantō earthquake; on 31 August 1923, a new campus was established in its present location in the Ōtsuka neighborhood of Bunkyō, Tokyo, where the school buildings were constructed by 1936.[3][4][5]

It was established as Ochanomizu University in 1949[1] and became a National University Corporation under Japan's National University Corporation Act in 2004.[1] Its faculties of graduate schools with Home Economics (master's program), Humanities and Science (doctoral program), started respectively in 1963 and 1976, and they were reorganized into the Graduate School of Humanities and Science starting in 1997 with master's research courses in humanities, science, and home economics.[6] Since 2007, the Graduate School was positioned to lead and strengthen education and research when they reorganized Graduate School of Humanities and Science to the Institute for Human Life Innovation and the Institute for Education and Human Development.[6]

School Song

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みがかずば Migakazuba is a poem-based school song which was composed by Empress Shōken.

みがかずば

玉も鏡も なにかせん 学びの道も かくこそありけれ[7]

Without polishing,

Gemstones or bronze mirror will not shine and transform into jewelry,

Likewise, studying continuously is important.

The song was sung by the students of the affiliated elementary school before Helen Keller on April 26, 1937 in the Kiindo, auditorium.[8]

Affiliated institutions

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Ochanomizu's campus also contains a number of schools for pre-university students affiliated with the university: Ochanomizu Kindergarten, Ochanomizu Elementary, Ochanomizu Junior High School, and Ochanomizu High School.

In March 2022, Prince Hisahito of Akishino graduated from Ochanomizu Junior High School.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "About the University". Ochanomizu University. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Yushima Sēdō―kigen wa 2500-nen mae ni sakanoboru" [Yushima Shrine - Origin dates back to 2,500 years ago] (PDF) (in Japanese). Kyoritsu Women's University. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  3. ^ Ochanomizu University (ed.). "Shinsai to Fukkō: Taishō 12(1923)nen–Shōwa 11(1936)nen" [Earthquake and rebuilding 1923 (Taishō 12)– 1936 (Shōwa 11)] (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Rakusē shikishidai" [Revitalization ceremony programs] (PDF). Kōhō [School Report] (in Japanese) (411). Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School: 1. 14 November 1936. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  5. ^ Those newly finished school buildings are documented in the digital photo archive: (写真資料(学校生活)『新校舎に学ぶ』(昭和11年10月)). Ochanomizu University Library (ed.). "Shashin shiryō (gakkō seikatsu)—shin-kōsha ni manabu (Shōwa 11-nen 10-gatsu (1936)" [Photo archive October 1936 (school life) "Studying at the new school buildings"]. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Daigaku Enkaku" [University History] (in Japanese). Ochanomizu University. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  7. ^ About Ochanomizu University
  8. ^ Helen Keller's visit|Ochanomizu University Digital Archive
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35°43′07″N 139°43′57″E / 35.718477°N 139.732565°E / 35.718477; 139.732565