History
Ōtani University traces its origin to the early Edo period (1603 – 1868). It was founded in 1655, and served as the seminary of Higashi Hongan-ji. The shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu founded Higashi Hongan-ji in 1602 by splitting it from Nishi Hongan-ji in order to diminish the power of the Shin sect of Buddhism. The seminary was strengthened and revived in 1755, and developed a broader curriculum throughout the 19th century.
The modern university was founded in 1901 as Shinshū University in the Sugamo neighborhood of Tokyo. Shinshū University was closely associated with Kiyozawa Manshi (1863-1903), a Shin Buddhist reformer from a low-ranking samurai background who studied at the University of Tokyo under the American philosopher Ernest Fenollosa (1853 – 1908). Kiyozawa also served as the first dean of the university. In 1904 the university achieved the legal status of senmon gakko, or vocational school.
Shinshū University moved from Tokyo to Kyoto in 1911. It had a curriculum that consisted of three years of general study, two years of specialized study, and four years of graduate-level study. The university moved to newly-constructed buildings in the Koyamahigashifusa-chō neighborhood of Kita-ku in 1913, remains at this location. Shinshū attained university status in 1922, and was renamed Ōtani University in the same year. Under the Education Law of 1947 Ōtani University transitioned to the post-World War II educational system, and was reclassified as a university.
Read more about this topic: Otani University
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