HISTORICAL SKETCH

Meiji University was established in 1881 as the Meiji Law School by three young men who sought to plant the seeds of individual and human rights among the common people.They were,like the individuals who undertook the Meiji Restoration,lower-ranking samurai.One,Tatsuo Kisimoto,a retainer of the Tottori Clan,was a gifted youth who was selected by the clan goverment to attend one of the shogunate's schools in Edo and then advanced to the Nan-Ko of the restoration goverment's University.Another founder,Misao Yashiro,was a samurai of the Sabae Clan.He likewise had an excellent academic record and also studied at the Nan-Ko.The third funder, Kozo Miyagi, was a samurai from the Tendo Clan and also student of the Nan-Ko. All three were born in 1851 or 1852 and were not yet 30 years of age when they established the Meiji Law School in Miyagi's home in Tokyo. Kishimoto and Miyagi had received law degrees from the University of Paris, and as a result of this experience criminal law based on French legal theories and lectures on property law become core subjects at the Meiji Law School. The following year administractive law, French commercial law, and under Gustave Boissonade, Japanese penal law and French civil law were added. Thus, an increased variety of lectures in public law were given on the one hand, and with French administrative law as the central axis, courses in Japanese administarative law, governmental organization, local government, and texation on the other. At the time of founding there were 44 students, but two years later the number had grown to 406. By 1886 the university was composed of a School of Law and a School of Public Administration, and by 1890 the number of professors had increased to 40, including three professors who recieved a doctorate in Swizerland, one who received his in Germany and one who received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in the United States.

The University Ordinance of 1918 resulted in a major reorganization of both national and private universities. Meiji responded by establishing the reformed Schools of Law and Commerce in 1920, followed by a new School of Political Science and Economics in 1925 and the reopening of the School of Arts and Letters in 1932. Also at this time the university prepatatory division moved to its new campus at Izumi in Suginami word, Tokyo. The preparatory divisions (YOKA) maintained there would later serve as the basis for the general education divisions to be incorporated into the four-year colleges established after the war.

Beginning in 1921 the university also established the evening division of the Schools of Law and Political Science and Economics to serve the educational needs of working students. The School of Commerce followed suit in 1923, the School of Arts and Letters in 1949 and the School of Engineering in 1950.

In 1929 a two-year women's college was established with departments of Law and Economics. Woman's College, Meiji University provided the first oppotunity for women in Japan to study these subjects at the level of higher education. Even today, the college is one of the few in Japan with curricula other than literature or home economics.

The School of Engineering was established in 1944 and was reorganized as the School of Science and Technology in 1989. The School of Agriculture was opened in 1946, and together with the School of Engineering moved to a new campus near Ikuta, located in Kanagawa Prefecture, neighboring metropolitan Tokyo. The School of Business Administration, also the first of its kind in Japan, was established in 1952.

At present, Meiji University consists of seven four-year colleges with related graduate courses in the Graduate School. The seven are:the School of Law,the School of Commerse, the Scool of Political Science and Economics, the School of Arts and Letters, the School of Science and Technology, the School of Agriculture, and the School of Business Administration. The first four colleges also have evening divisions. In addition there are a number of affiliated institutions. There are the Women's College, Meiji University the Meiji University High School for boys, and the Meiji Nakano Hachioji High School and Junior High School. The university also grants an attached status to the Meiji Nakano High School and Junior High School and the Meiji Nakano Hachioji High School and Meiji Nakano Hachioji Junir High School.The letter two schools are co-educational, while the former two ate for boys only. Although holding attached status, the Nakano Gakuen schools are a separate entity from the university's formal legal body.

The university has produced outstanding members of society and leaders in all areas, but is especially proud of its accomplishments in the fields of law and politics. THe university's interest in attaining excellence in all areas also applies to sports, and Meiji athletes regularly compete in international sporting events and have won nine gold medals at the Olympic Games.

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