Okayama University

Okayama University was founded as a comprehensive university in 1949, by a group of eminent and historically significant institutions of higher education, including the Okayama-Han (Domain) Medical Training School, which was founded in 1870. Since its founding, Okayama University has achieved great heights, expanding to include 10 faculties, 7 graduate schools, one program, four authorized research institutes, a university hospital, and several attached schools. Our university has large, richly verdant campus situated right in the heart of Okayama City, which experiences such a mild climate that it is known as “The Sunny Country.” As of May 2023, 13,225 students, including 913 international students from 66 different countries, are committed to learning and working in this felicitous environment. In addition, OU is recognized as one of the leading institutions to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2007, OU launched the only UNESCO Chair in Asia for the purpose of promoting UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Since then, OU and Okayama region have worked together for ESD in a multi-stakeholder partnership manner. With these achievements and reputations, OU was honored with the SDGs Partnership Award in the first Japan SDGs Awards in 2017 from the Government of Japan. Looking ahead, OU is realize its goal of “Planetary Health,” Okayama University has developed long-term as well as mid-term visions. Currently, we are promoting the long-term vision for the year 2050, of becoming “A Research University that Cotreats the Future for the Region and the Earth and Contributes to Global Innovation,” by strengthening collaborations with local and global stakeholders. We are also promoting the mid-term vision 3.0 (2022–2027) of becoming “A Research University that Together Creates and Nurtures a Bright Future.” Okayama University has continued its efforts to create Okayama’s own unique “academic capital,” i.e., our “academic capital conception.”