is a private university in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is located in Machida,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Wako University is part of a comprehensive educational institute called Wako-Gakuen (和光学園) (meaning Wako schools), that includes kindergarten, two elementary schools, junior high school and high school. All schools are located in Tokyo. The university has direct attached schools, so that people who have attended from the elementary school are relatively wealthy and then they directly go to the university without taking an examination.

History

Wako University was founded in 1966 as a four-year

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

institution of higher learning. Wako's founder and first president, Dr. Satoru Umene, was a pioneering educator who led the postwar movement to reform Japanese higher education.

Controversy

In 2004, Wako University accepted one applicant, however, upon learning that the applicant was the daughter of Shoko Asahara, the mastermind behind the

Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway The was a chemical domestic terrorist attack perpetrated on 20 March 1995, in Tokyo, Japan, by members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult. In five coordinated attacks, the perpetrators released sarin on three lines of the Tokyo Metro (then ''Teito Rapi ...

, they rescinded her acceptance. This was a controversial event and an assistant professor,

Eiji Otsuka Eiji is a common masculine Japanese given name. Written forms Eiji can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *, "prosperity, peace" *, "great, peace" *, "great, second" *, "eternity, next" The name can also be written in h ...

, resigned in protest. The president of the university at the time, Osamu Mitsuhashi, was a professor of sociology who had recently published the book "Notes of Discrimination". In end, the university was sentenced by

Tokyo District Court is a district court located at 1-1-4 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. See also *Judicial system of Japan In the judicial system of Japan, the Constitution of Japan guarantees that "all judges shall be independent in the exercise of thei ...

to pay a fine of ¥300,000 (US$2,500).

Undergraduate departments

Faculty of Human Sciences

*Psychology and Education *Sociological Studies *Human and Environmental Well-being

Faculty of Representational studies

*Transcultural studies *Art

Faculty of Economics and Business Management

*Economics *Business and Media

Graduate department

*Social and Cultural Studies

Notable alumni

* Jae Ko (B.F.A. 1988), installation, sculpture, vinyl cord drawings, and drawings on paper * Taiyou Matsumoto *

Kōji Kumeta is a Japanese manga artist. His most famous works are '' Go!! Southern Ice Hockey Club'', '' Katteni Kaizō'', '' Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'', and '' Joshiraku''. The bulk of Kumeta's work was published in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'', until the abru ...

Gen Urobuchi is a Japanese novelist, visual novel writer and anime screenwriter. He is known for being the co-creator of the highly acclaimed and commercially successful anime series '' Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', which earned him the Tokyo Anime Award for ...

- Japanese novelist, visual novel writer, and anime screenwriter known for being the co-creator of the anime series

Puella Magi Madoka Magica , also known simply as ''Madoka Magica'', is a Japanese anime television series created by Magica Quartet, and animated by Shaft. The story follows a group of middle school girls, led by protagonist Madoka Kaname, who make supernat ...

References

External links

Wako University (English is available)
{{authority control Private universities and colleges in Japan Machida, Tokyo 1966 establishments in Japan Educational institutions established in 1966