Yokohama City University (YCU) (横浜市立大学, Yokohama Shiritsu Daigaku) is a public university, in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.[5] As of 2013, YCU has two faculties with a total of around 4,850 students, 111 of whom are foreign.[6] YCU also has four campuses (Kanazawa-Hakkei, Fukuura, Maioka and Tsurumi) and two hospitals (YCU Hospital and YCU Medical Center). YCU is a member of the Port-City University League (PUL),[7] and a core member of the Japanese University Network in the Bay Area (JUNBA).[8] In 2017, YCU has been ranked #16th among "world's best small universities" in 2016-2017 (Times Higher Education),[9] ranked at 23rd among life sciences institutes in Japan (Nature Index 2016).[10]
The predecessor of YCU, the Yokohama School of Commerce (橫濱商法學校, Yokohama Shōhō Gakkō), was founded in 1882, initially maintained by an association of local merchants. In 1888, the school was renamed Yokohama Commercial School (橫濱商業學校, Yokohama Shōgyō Gakkō), a five-year school for boys (ages 14–19 or above). In 1917, Yokohama Commercial School was municipalized and in 1921 it became a seven-year commercial school (for ages 12–19 or above). The Ministry of Education urged the school to shorten the curriculum by two years, as Japanese Commercial School Regulations (1921) did not specify a seven-year course for commercial schools. In 1924, it became a five-year school with a two-year specialized course. In 1928, the specialized course became the Yokohama City College of Commerce (橫濱市立橫濱商業專門學校, Yokohama Shiritsu Yokohama Shōgyō Gakkō). In 1949, it was renamed Yokohama City Economics College and reorganized into Yokohama City University under Japan's new educational system.
Another predecessor of YCU was founded in 1874 as Juzen Hospital (十全醫院, Jūzen Iin). This hospital was municipalized in 1891. In 1944, Yokohama Municipal Medical College (橫濱市立醫學專門學校, Yokohama Shiritsu Igaku Senmon Gakkō)) was established, and Juzen Hospital became a college hospital. In 1947, after World War II, the medical college became Yokohama Medical School (横浜医科大学, Yokohama Ika Daigaku), a municipal university. Its three-year preparatory course was established in 1947, and the four-year main course was established in 1949. In 1952, the medical school was merged with Yokohama City University.
Yokohama City University College of Nursing (横浜市立大学看護短期大学部, Yokohama Shiritsu Daigaku Kango Tanki Daigakubu) was a publicjunior college in Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It opened in 1898 as a vocational school,[11][12] and was amalgamated with the Yokohama City University School of Medicine in 2005.
In 1949, YCU had one faculty: the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. In 1952, two faculties were added (School of Medicine and Faculty of Literature and Science). The subsequent history of YCU is as follows.
1995: Faculty of Literature and Science was reorganized into two faculties: Faculty of International Liberal Arts and Faculty of Science.
2005: Three faculties (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Faculty of Sciences, and Faculty of Humanities and International Studies) were integrated. International College of Arts and Sciences was established.
2005: The Graduate School of Economics, the Graduate School of Business Administration, the Graduate School of Integrated Science, and the Graduate School of International Cultural Studies were integrated. International Graduate School of Arts and Sciences was established.
2009: International Graduate School of Arts and Sciences was reorganized and divided into the Graduate School of Urban Social and Cultural Studies, the Graduate School of Nanobioscience and the Graduate School of International Management.
2012: Division of Global Urban and Regional Studies was established.[15]
2013: Graduate School of Medical Life Science was established.[16]
2014: YCU concluded a memorandum of understanding (MOU) relating to implementation of the “International College Program with Academic Training at Walt Disney World Resort” with Valencia College.[17][18]
2018: The School of Data Science was established.
2019: International College of Arts and Sciences was reorganized and divided into School of International Liberal Arts, School of Economics and Business Administration, and School of Science.
Kanazawa-Hakkei CampusThe clock tower in autumnScience Research Building in Kanazawa-hakkei Campus
The Kanazawa-Hakkei Campus in Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama is one of the main campuses of YCU. Yochy, the mascot of YCU is a ginkgo leaf, from the trees found throughout the campus. One of the university's landmarks, the clock tower, is on this campus.
The Tsurumi Campus in Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama was established in 2001 as a graduate school partnership between YCU and RIKEN.[19][20] RIKEN Yokohama researchers visit YCU as guest professors and provide guidance for students as part of a cooperative graduate school agreement.[21]
International College of Arts and Sciences will be reorganized and divided into School of International Liberal Arts, School of Economics and Business Administration, and School of Science in 2019.
Division of Liberal Arts and International Studies
Department of Human Science
Department of Social Relations
Department of Arts and Cultures
Division of Global Urban and Regional Studies
Department of Urban Planning and Community Development
The YCU Hospital in Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama has 654 beds, and in the 2012 fiscal year, treated 465,918 out-patients and 213,149 in-patients.[23] The Hospital is a designated hospital as a Regional Cancer Care Hospital, AIDS Care Central Core Hospital and an approved as a Specific Function Hospital.[24]
Yoichi Nishimaru - physician and the author of Afternoon in the Forensic Medicine Classroom (法医学教室の午後)[27]
Yoshiharu Sekino - surgeon and explorer famous for traveling "the Great Journey", tracing the route of mankind which spread from its origin in Africa to the Americas in reverse, starting at the southern tip of South America.[28][29]
