History

Tamagawa K-12 & University was founded in 1929 by Kuniyoshi Obara, with "Zenjin" education as its first precept. The school started with 111 students and 18 faculty members and has grown into a comprehensive campus with a K-12 academy, university (with colleges of humanities, agriculture, engineering, business administration, education, arts and ´arts and sciences´) and graduate schools. It brings together about 10,000 people in a large campus on a site of about 610,000 square meters. The educational activities conducted at Tamagawa are diverse, and are all geared to the 21st century.

At present, we are involved in many activities aimed at creating an educational environment appropriate to the 21st century. Our school is an active participant in third-party certification programs. In December 2000, we became the world´s first comprehensive campus to attain ISO14001 certification. In September 2005, we were granted certification under the Privacy Mark System, which attests to our compliance with standards concerning the protection of personal information.

In 2002, Tamagawa University adopted an Integrative Human Science Program as part of the 21st Century COE (Centers of Excellence) Program that has been promoted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and is continuing with research in the Program. In 2004, the Department of Management Science at the University´s College of Engineering drew up a manual on educational quality that won ISO9001 certification. In 2005, the University adopted the MEXT Teacher Training GP (Good Practice) Program, which seeks to promote the training of teachers at university undergraduate and graduate faculties. In 2006, first year education at Tamagawa University adopted the MEXT "Distinctive University Education Support Program [Good Practice (GP)]". In 2008, the "Origins of the Social Mind" Program of Tamagawa University´s Brain Science Institute adopted the MEXT Global-COE Program. Tamagawa University´s work in both research and pedagogic fields has been acclaimed.

With respect to K-12 (Kindergarten to 12th grade) education, in 2004 Tamagawa Academy became the first ever Japanese-speaking educational institution to be granted accreditation by the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA), an organization that reviews and validates the quality of schools. In 2005, we became the first Japanese educational institution to be granted formal membership in Round Square, a worldwide association of private schools, and we are continuing with work to meet global educational standards. In April 2006, we commenced a system that treats all school years from kindergarten to the 12th grade as part of a single educational program. By strengthening the consistency between each of the grades from kindergarten to the final year of the upper secondary division (12th grade-traditionally the third year of senior high school), we are implementing an educational program that is better attuned to the mental and physical growth of our students.
In 2007, through the establishment of the International Baccalaureate Program, we made an evolutionary leap toward our goal of fostering individuals who can succeed anywhere in the world.

Tamagawa K-12 & University is constantly endeavoring to develop new forms of education from a global perspective, and to build an even better educational environment.