Keio University (慶應義塾大学 Keiō Gijuku Daigaku) is Japan's oldest and one of its most prestigious institutions of higher education. It was founded in 1858 by Fukuzawa Yukichi as a private school of Western studies, and established its first university faculties in 1890.
Although Keio was the first advanced school in Japan, it was quickly eclipsed by the state-supported University of Tokyo. Part of this was because Fukuzawa had an adversarial relationship with the samurai who founded Japan's oligarchic government during the Meiji era. Keio still vies for the rank of #2 with its cross-town rival, Waseda University. Famous Keio alumni include the Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The main campus is in the Mita district of Tokyo. Additional campuses include Hiyoshi, Shinanomachi , Shonan-Fujisawa and Yagami . The university also operates a high school, Keio Academy of New York, in Purchase, New York.
Rugby Union was first introduced to Japanese students at Keio University by Edward Bramwell Clarke and Tanaka Ginnosuke. (The game had been played in the treaty ports of Yokohama and Kobe before that, but not between Japanese teams.)
It is one of the Tokyo 6 Universities.
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Last updated: 08-02-2005 01:16:43
