Ritsumeikan University

Ritsumeikan University (立命館大学, Ritsumeikan Daigaku, abbreviated to Rits and 立命 Ritsumei) is a private university in Kyoto, Japan, tracing its roots to 1869. With the Kinugasa Campus(KIC) in Kyoto, and Kyoto Prefecture. the university also has a satellite called Biwako-Kusatsu Campus (BKC).

Today, the university is known as one of the four leading private universities in western Japan. KAN-KAN-DO-RITS 関関同立 (Kwansei Gakuin University, Kansai University, Doshisha University, and Ritsumeikan University) is the abbreviation that many people refer to when talking about the four leading private universities in the region (of 20 million people). The school is one of the top universities in Japan, and it is especially well known for its International Relations programme which has been ranked as first place in Japan. Moreover, in today’s newspaper, it is listed as the ‘top private university in Japan for policy science’. It has exchange programmes with many schools throughout the world, including The University of British Columbia, The University of Melbourne, The University of Sydney, University of Hong Kong and King's College London. The school also has a dual bachelor's degree program and dual master's degree programme offered in collaboration with American University, and a dual bachelor's degree programme offered in collaboration with The University of British Columbia. It has a relatively strong network of alumni in Kansai region and has produced a number of CEOs in Japanese companies as well as politicians.

University

A university (Latin: universitas, "a whole") is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which grants academic degrees in various subjects and typically provides undergraduate education and postgraduate education. The word "university" is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars."

History

Definition

The original Latin word "universitas" refers in general to "a number of persons associated into one body, a society, company, community, guild, corporation, etc." At the time of the emergence of urban town life and medieval guilds, specialised "associations of students and teachers with collective legal rights usually guaranteed by charters issued by princes, prelates, or the towns in which they were located" came to be denominated by this general term. Like other guilds, they were self-regulating and determined the qualifications of their members.

In modern usage the word has come to mean "An institution of higher education offering tuition in mainly non-vocational subjects and typically having the power to confer degrees," with the earlier emphasis on its corporate organization considered as applying historically to Medieval universities.

International House

International House is the name of:

Asia-Pacific

Asia-Pacific or Asia Pacific (abbreviated as Asia-Pac, AsPac, APAC, APJ, JAPA or JAPAC) is the part of the world in or near the Western Pacific Ocean. The region varies in size depending on which context, but it typically includes much of East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

The term may also include Russia (on the North Pacific) and countries in the Americas which are on the coast of the Eastern Pacific Ocean; the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, for example, includes Canada, Chile, Russia, Mexico, Peru, and the United States.

Alternatively, the term sometimes comprises all of Asia and Australasia as well as small/medium/large Pacific island nations (Asia Pacific and Australasian Continent) - for example when dividing the world into large regions for commercial purposes (e.g. into Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific).

On the whole there appears to be no clear cut definition of "Asia Pacific" and the regions included change as per the context.

Though imprecise, the term has become popular since the late 1980s in commerce, finance and politics. In fact, despite the heterogeneity of the regions' economies, most individual nations within the zone are emerging markets experiencing rapid growth. (Compare the concept/acronym APEJ or APeJ - Asia-Pacific excluding Japan.)

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (立命館アジア太平洋大学, Ritsumeikan Ajia Taiheiyō Daigaku), or APU, is a private institution inaugurated April 2000 in Beppu, Ōita, Japan. APU was made possible through the collaboration of three parties from the public and private sectors: Ōita Prefecture, Beppu City and the Ritsumeikan Academy.

As of 1 November 2013, the university has an enrollment of 5,272, including approximately 3,000 domestic, and 2,300 international students (a 56-44 domestic-international ratio) originating from 84 countries and regions. Half of the 162 full-time faculty members are foreign nationals who come from 27 countries and regions.

Location

APU is at Jumonjibaru in the City of Beppu, Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu.

Background

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University is a member of the greater Ritsumeikan Academy which includes APU, Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto and Lake Biwa and primary, junior and senior high schools throughout Japan. In the early 1990s the concept of creating an international university in the city of Beppu was first raised by the governor of Ōita Prefecture, Morihiko Hiramatsu, with the then chancellor of the Ritsumeikan Trust in Kyoto, Mr Kawamoto. A chief proponent of the concept and design was Professor Makitaro Hotta. The university opened at Jumonjibaru, north of Beppu City in April 2000.