Kagawa University consists of six undergraduate faculties and six graduate schools and provides education for approximately 5,700undergraduate students and roughly 800 graduate students. Going as far back as 1949, Kagawa University was established through the mergerof Takamatsu College of Economics, Kagawa Normal School, and Kagawa Normal School for Youth to form 2 faculties: the Faculty of Economicsand the Faculty of Education. The university expanded to include the Faculty of Agriculture in 1955, the Faculty of Law in 1981, and the Facultyof Engineering in 1997. This was followed by a merger with Kagawa Medical School in 2003, resulting in the establishment of the new KagawaUniversity. In 2004, with the enactment of the National University Corporation Act, Kagawa University became a nationally recognized universitycorporation.
In FY2018, Kagawa University made many improvements in faculty reform. Firstly, the Faculty of Engineering and Design (based on theFaculty of Engineering) was established to train engineers to develop products with the user’s perspective in mind. Meanwhile, the Faculty ofEconomics was streamlined into one department and 5 courses; which included the basic economic areas such as economics, business administration,and finance; with the aim of cultivating individuals with strong problem-solving skills so they could take an active role in this age ofglobalization and tackle issues in regional revitalization beginning with tourism. Additionally, the Faculty of Medicine was the first nationaluniversity medical school in Japan to establish the Department of Clinical Psychology. In FY2022, a partial division of the Graduate Schools ofEconomics, Law, and Education were combined with the Graduate School of Engineering to form the Graduate School of Science for CreativeEmergence (Master’s Course). Faculty staff and researchers, in both the humanities and sciences, transcend their fields of expertise to developeducation and research ranging in a broad spectrum of themes from regional revitalization to global-scale problem solving. As for medicalfaculties, the Graduate School of Medicine began a new Master’s Course in Clinical Psychology in FY2020 and in collaboration with the Departmentof Clinical Psychology, is training personnel to become nationally certified psychologists. Additionally, the Division of Nursing Sciencebegan their doctoral program in FY2022. The Graduate School of Agriculture underwent a major reorganization in FY2018 to promote professionalsin a broad range of sciences from life sciences to biology, environment, and biological resources while learning from the same philosophyand research development of the rare sugar research which Kagawa University boasts.
As life expectancy increases, people are now required to plan for their lives in multiple phases. Even those who have already entered theworkforce are requiring more and more opportunities to educate themselves further. Over the years, Kagawa University’s Graduate School ofManagement has produced a large number of business management master’s degree graduates from working adults and now, the GraduateSchool of Science for Creative Emergence, Graduate School of Medicine, Graduate School of Agriculture, and Graduate School of Education’sCourse for Teaching Professionals are opening their doors to provide a new environment for working adults to relearn and improve their skills.We are exposed to unpredictable, complex, and integral risks such as intensifying climate change due to global warming, global risks such aspandemics caused by new infectious diseases such as COVID-19, geopolitical risks such as the frequent international conflicts we see aroundthe world, and national risks such as declining birthrates, aging populations, and the decline of rural areas due to metropolitan area overconcentration.As the center of knowledge for the region, Kagawa University collaborates with industries, local governments, and local communities,and through the “connections and bonds” of researchers of diverse backgrounds, we cultivate human resources and promote the developmentof research to create new values for a strong and happy society.
