International Christian University

International Christian University (ICU), known in Japanese as Kokusai Kirisutokyō Daigaku, is a non-denominational private university in Mitaka, western Tokyo, founded in 1949 and opened for teaching in 1953 as Japan's first liberal arts college国际基督教大学（International Christian University，简称 ICU，日语作国際基督教大学）是位于东京都三鹰市的非宗派私立大学，1949 年决议创校，1953 年正式开学，是日本第一所文理学院。

It offers 31 undergraduate majors and a graduate school across the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, teaches roughly 30 percent of its courses in English, and requires all faculty to work in both Japanese and English学校在人文、社会科学与自然科学领域开设 31 个本科主修和一个研究生院，约 30% 的课程以英语授课，并要求全体教师具备日英双语工作能力。

ICU was selected for Japan's Top Global University Project in 2014, is a member of the Alliance of Asian Liberal Arts Universities, and appears in the 1201-1400 band of the QS World University Rankings 2027ICU 于 2014 年入选日本“超级全球大学”计划，是亚洲博雅大学联盟成员，并在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中位列第 1201 至 1400 位区间。

History

• In 1949 Japanese and American church leaders met at Gotemba and resolved to create an international Christian university in Japan on the model of the American liberal arts college1949 年，日美两国教会领袖在御殿场举行会议，决定以美国文理学院为蓝本在日本创办一所国际基督教大学。
• The founding coalition included the Presbyterian and other Protestant churches of both countries, and ICU was chartered that year as a non-denominational institution open to students of any faith创办联盟包括两国的长老会及其他新教教会，ICU 当年获批设立，定位为不限信仰、向所有学生开放的非宗派学校。
• The Japan ICU Foundation was incorporated in New York State on 23 November 1948 to raise funds and support the planned university, and it helped establish ICU in 1953日本国际基督教大学基金会于 1948 年 11 月 23 日在纽约州注册，负责筹款并支持筹建中的大学，1953 年协助 ICU 正式成立。
• In 1949 Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu, served as honorary president of the preparatory committee and lent imperial prestige to the fundraising campaign in Japan1949 年，高松宫宣仁亲王担任设立准备委员会名誉总裁，为日本的筹款活动增添了皇室声望。
• General Douglas MacArthur, then Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, was honorary chairman of the American fundraising campaign and helped attract donations from across the United States时任盟军最高统帅道格拉斯·麦克阿瑟五星上将出任美国募款运动名誉主席，帮助从全美吸引捐款。
• Hisato Ichimada, governor of the Bank of Japan and a Buddhist, led the Japanese campaign that raised the funds to buy the large tract of land in Mitaka日本银行总裁、佛教徒一万田尚登领导日本募款运动，筹得购买三鹰大片土地所需的资金。
• The founders described ICU as a "University of Tomorrow", where Japanese and international students would live and study together in the cause of reconciliation and peace after the Second World War创办者把 ICU 称为“明日大学”，希望日本学生与国际学生在战后和解与和平的事业中共同生活与学习。
• Iwao Ayusawa, a labour economist and Quaker, joined the faculty in 1952 and helped shape ICU's early social science curriculum and its peace-oriented mission劳工经济学家、贵格会信徒鲇泽严于 1952 年加入教师队伍，参与塑造 ICU 早期社会科学课程及其以和平为宗旨的使命。
• The school corporation was established in 1953 and ICU opened its doors in Mitaka that year, with Hachiro Yuasa as its first president学校法人于 1953 年成立，ICU 同年三鹰校区正式开学，汤浅八郎出任首任校长。
• Eleanor Roosevelt delivered the first convocation address in 1953, affirming the university's link with the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights埃莉诺·罗斯福于 1953 年发表首次开学演说，确认了学校与联合国及《世界人权宣言》的联系。
• From the first entering class, ICU students have signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on admission, a ceremony that remains part of the university's identity自首届学生起，ICU 学生在入学时签署《世界人权宣言》，这一仪式延续至今，成为学校身份的一部分。
• Jay Rockefeller, later a United States senator and governor of West Virginia, studied Japanese and English at ICU from 1957 to 1959 while on leave from Harvard University后来担任美国参议员与西弗吉尼亚州州长的杰伊·洛克菲勒，1957 至 1959 年从哈佛大学休学期间在 ICU 学习日语与英语。
• The campus occupies land that contains pre-Jomon and Jomon archaeological remains, and excavated artefacts are displayed in the Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum named after the first president校园地下埋有绳文前期与绳文时代的考古遗存，出土器物陈列在以首任校长命名的汤浅八郎纪念博物馆。
• In 2010 the Gakki dining hall was rebuilt and the English Language Program underwent a contentious curricular reform that changed its structure and staffing2010 年，学生食堂“ガッキ”重建，英语语言项目也经历了一场争议性的课程改革，改变了其结构与师资安排。
• The English Language Program was renamed English for Liberal Arts in April 2012, and the new programme became compulsory for students whose first language is Japanese2012 年 4 月，英语语言项目更名为“博雅英语”，并成为以日语为母语学生的必修课程。
• In 2014 MEXT selected ICU as one of 37 universities in the Top Global University Project, a designation that brought additional funding for internationalisation2014 年，文部科学省把 ICU 选入“超级全球大学”计划的 37 所高校之列，这项认定为其国际化带来额外经费。
• By 2016 the university hosted eight research institutes, including the Peace Research Institute and the Institute of Asian Cultural Studies, which organise conferences, lectures and seminars到 2016 年，学校设有八个研究所，包括和平研究所与亚洲文化研究所，负责组织会议、讲座与研讨会。
• In 2025 Times Higher Education and Benesse ranked ICU first among private universities in Japan for teaching and eleventh nationally2025 年，《泰晤士高等教育》与倍乐生把 ICU 的教学评为日本私立大学第一、全国第十一。

Academics

• ICU's College of Liberal Arts offers 31 majors, and students may graduate with a single major, a double major or a major and a minorICU 文理学院开设 31 个主修，学生可选择单一主修、双主修或主修加辅修毕业。
• The humanities majors include American Studies, Asian Studies, Japan Studies, Literature, Linguistics, Philosophy and Religion, Arts and Archaeology, and Music人文类主修包括美国研究、亚洲研究、日本研究、文学、语言学、哲学与宗教、艺术与考古以及音乐。
• The social science majors include Anthropology, Economics, Law, Politics, International Relations, Sociology, Public Policy, Development Studies, Peace Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Media Communication and Culture, Business and Education社会科学类主修包括人类学、经济学、法学、政治学、国际关系、社会学、公共政策、发展研究、和平研究、性别与性研究、媒体传播与文化、商科与教育学。
• The natural science majors include Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science and Environmental Studies, each requiring laboratory work and a senior research thesis自然科学类主修包括生物学、化学、物理学、数学、计算机科学与环境研究，均要求完成实验室工作与毕业研究论文。
• The graduate school awards master's degrees in education, public administration, international relations, social and cultural analysis, media and language, public economics, peace studies and comparative culture研究生院在教育、公共行政、国际关系、社会与文化分析、媒体与语言、公共经济学、和平研究以及比较文化等方向授予硕士学位。
• A Master of Arts in Natural Sciences is offered with concentrations in mathematics and information science, material science and life science, and the graduate school also awards doctorates in education and the natural sciences自然科学硕士设有数学与信息科学、材料科学、生命科学三个方向，研究生院还在教育学与自然科学领域授予博士学位。
• About 30 percent of courses are taught in English and the rest in Japanese or bilingually, and each department employs staff able to serve students in both languages约 30% 的课程以英语授课，其余以日语或双语授课，各系均配备能以两种语言服务学生的职员。
• Applicants without prior Japanese can enter through documentary screening rather than Japanese-language entrance examinations, then take Japanese Language Program courses to reach bilingual competence没有日语基础的学生可经材料审核而非日语入学考试录取，随后修读日语项目课程以达到双语能力。
• Freshmen and sophomores take language courses in their non-dominant language, either English for Liberal Arts or the Japanese Language Program, before moving into content courses一、二年级学生须修读非优势语言课程，即“博雅英语”或“日语项目”，之后才进入专业内容课程。
• The academic year is divided into three trimesters of about eleven weeks each, and each course lasts one trimester, allowing students to redesign their curriculum as interests change学年分为三个约十一周的学期，每门课只持续一个学期，学生可随兴趣变化重新设计自己的课程组合。
• About 18 percent of the faculty come from overseas, mainly English-speaking countries, and candidates for academic posts must supply a reference attesting to their commitment to Christianity约 18% 的教师来自海外，主要来自英语国家，应聘教职者须提供证明其认同基督教精神的推荐信。
• ICU hosts the only Rotary Peace Center in Asia that awards graduate degrees, one of seven such centres worldwide, and offers a master's programme in peace and conflict resolutionICU 设有亚洲唯一可授予研究生学位的扶轮和平中心，全球仅有七处，并开设和平与冲突解决硕士项目。
• The University of California Tokyo Study Center, which runs the UCEAP programme to Japan, is located on the ICU campus and brings American undergraduates into ICU classrooms负责美国加州大学系统日本项目的加州大学东京学习中心设于 ICU 校园，把美国本科生带入 ICU 课堂。
• Eight research institutes, among them the Institute of Educational Research and Service, the Social Science Research Institute and the Institute for the Study of Christianity and Culture, support faculty research and public lectures八个研究所——包括教育研究与服务研究所、社会科学研究所、基督教与文化研究所——支撑教师研究与公开讲座。
• ICU's library and language laboratories support bilingual study, and the campus curriculum is complemented by the Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum and the Taizanso tea-house complexICU 的图书馆与语言实验室支撑双语学习，校园课程还得到汤浅八郎纪念博物馆与泰山庄茶室建筑群的补充。
• Graduates enter global companies, government and graduate study, and in 2016 the university reported that 95.3 percent of job-seeking undergraduates found employment after graduation毕业生进入跨国企业、政府部门或继续深造，2016 年学校称寻求就业的本科毕业生中有 95.3% 在毕业后落实工作。

Campus

• The main campus covers about 150 acres, or 61 hectares, in Osawa, Mitaka, western Tokyo, roughly half an hour by train from Shinjuku主校区位于东京都西部三鹰市大泽，占地约 150 英亩（61 公顷），乘火车到新宿约需半小时。
• A 600-metre tree-lined approach known as the "runway" leads from the main gate into the campus and is lined with cherry trees that draw visitors each spring一条被称为“跑道”的六百米林荫道从正门通向校园深处，两侧种满樱花树，每年春天吸引访客。
• The campus sits on pre-Jomon and Jomon archaeological sites, and the Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum displays excavated pottery, stone tools and other finds permanently校园坐落于绳文前期与绳文时代遗址之上，汤浅八郎纪念博物馆永久陈列出土陶器、石器及其他遗物。
• Part of the site was formerly a Nakajima Aircraft Company factory, and the university has incorporated that industrial history into its campus archaeology and archives校园部分地块曾是中岛飞机公司的工厂，学校把这段工业史纳入校园考古与档案整理。
• The Taizanso Garden, laid out in the 1920s, contains a traditional Japanese tea house and the One-Mat Room, a wooden tea-ceremony room of a single tatami mat泰山庄庭园建于 1920 年代，内有传统日式茶室与仅铺一张榻榻米的木造“一叠室”。
• ICU also owns a 240-acre campus in Nasu and a 13-acre retreat centre in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, used for field courses, sports and student retreatsICU 还在那须拥有一处 240 英亩的校区，并在长野县轻井泽设有 13 英亩的研修中心，用于野外课程、体育与学生集训。
• The Rotary Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution and the University of California Tokyo Study Center are both housed on campus, giving students access to international programmes on site扶轮和平与冲突解决中心以及加州大学东京学习中心都设在校园内，使学生就近参与国际项目。
• The campus is a fifteen-minute bus ride from Mitaka Station on the JR Chuo Line, and its wooded grounds are managed as a green buffer within the suburban city校园距 JR 中央线三鹰站约十五分钟公交车程，林木茂密的地块在郊区城市中起到绿色缓冲作用。

Reputation

• ICU is placed in the 1201-1400 band of the QS World University Rankings 2027, the joint interval assigned to institutions at that level of the table在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中，ICU 位列第 1201 至 1400 位区间（并列区间）。
• It did not enter the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027 and did not enter the 2026 ShanghaiRanking Academic Ranking of World Universities main table该校未进入 2027 年泰晤士高等教育世界大学排名，也未进入 2026 年软科世界大学学术排名主榜。
• It did not enter the 2026-2027 U.S. News Best Global Universities ranking, reflecting its small liberal arts profile rather than a comprehensive research portfolio该校未进入 2026 至 2027 年度 U.S. News 全球大学榜单，这反映其小型文理学院定位而非综合性研究型结构。
• In 2025 Times Higher Education and Benesse ranked ICU first among private universities in Japan for teaching quality and eleventh among all Japanese universities2025 年，《泰晤士高等教育》与倍乐生将其教学质量评为日本私立大学第一、全国大学第十一。
• QS ranked ICU 174th in Asia in 2016, and Forbes included it in a 2014 list of the top ten liberal arts colleges in Asia based on the QS Asia rankingsQS 在 2016 年将 ICU 列为亚洲第 174 名，《福布斯》则依据 2014 年 QS 亚洲排名把它列入亚洲十大文理学院。
• OpenAlex records 3,817 works and 56,284 citations for ICU, a research output concentrated in education, linguistics, peace studies, Asian studies and the natural sciencesOpenAlex 记录 ICU 有 3,817 篇论文与 56,284 次被引，研究产出集中于教育学、语言学、和平研究、亚洲研究与自然科学。
• The university reports that 55.5 percent of students in 2014 studied abroad through ICU programmes before graduation, one of the highest rates among Japanese universities学校称 2014 年有 55.5% 的学生在毕业前通过 ICU 项目赴海外学习，这一比例在日本高校中位居前列。
• ICU was one of 37 institutions selected for the Top Global University Project in 2014, a MEXT programme that funds internationalisation and bilingual teachingICU 是 2014 年入选“超级全球大学”计划的 37 所院校之一，该文部科学省项目资助国际化与双语教学。
• Its graduates are recruited by global firms and government, and more than 20 percent continue to graduate study in Japan or abroad, including at Oxford, Harvard, Columbia and MIT其毕业生受跨国企业与政府机构青睐，超过 20% 继续在日本或海外攻读研究生，就读院校包括牛津、哈佛、哥伦比亚与麻省理工。

Student life

• The signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at entry remains ICU's defining ritual, linking each cohort to the university's founding commitment to peace and social justice入学时签署《世界人权宣言》仍是 ICU 最具标志性的仪式，把每一届学生与学校创办时对和平与社会正义的承诺联系起来。
• About 100 student clubs and circles operate in the arts, sports, academic and social fields, and most students join at least one during their first year校园有约一百个艺术、体育、学术与社交类社团，多数学生在一年级时至少加入一个。
• As of 2011 ICU had 2,851 undergraduates, 1,041 men and 1,810 women, plus 150 graduate students, and 90.5 percent of students were Japanese citizens from a body representing 44 countries截至 2011 年，ICU 有本科生 2,851 人（男 1,041、女 1,810）与研究生 150 人，90.5% 的学生为日本国籍，其余来自 44 个国家。
• Most students live off campus with families or in apartments, and about 600 lived in campus housing as of 2010, giving ICU a residential core within a commuter university多数学生在校外与家人同住或租住公寓，2010 年约有 600 人住在校内宿舍，使这所以通勤为主的大学保留了住宿核心。
• Returnee Japanese students, known as kikokushijo, form a distinctive part of the student body and bring overseas schooling experience into bilingual classrooms归国日籍学生（kikokushijo）构成学生群体中独特的一部分，把海外求学经历带入双语课堂。
• The Gakki dining hall, rebuilt in 2010, is a self-service cafeteria and one of the newest buildings on campus, functioning as a social hub between classes2010 年重建的“ガッキ”食堂是自助餐厅，也是校园最新的建筑之一，在课间充当社交中心。
• Students who come from abroad for a year-long exchange are called One Year Regulars, and they take courses alongside Japanese students in both languages从海外来校进行一年交换的学生被称为“一年期正规生”，他们与日本学生一起以两种语言修课。
• The Taizanso tea house and its One-Mat Room host tea-ceremony practice and cultural events, connecting student life to the 1920s garden at the edge of campus泰山庄茶室及其“一叠室”举办茶道练习与文化活动，把学生生活与校园边缘这座 1920 年代庭园联系起来。

Notable people

• Hachiro Yuasa, a Christian educator, was ICU's first president and gave the university its founding emphasis on peace, bilingualism and liberal arts基督教教育家汤浅八郎是 ICU 首任校长，为学校确立了和平、双语与博雅教育的办学基调。
• Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu, honorary president of the preparatory committee, mobilised imperial and business networks in support of the university's establishment高松宫宣仁亲王作为设立准备委员会名誉总裁，动员皇室与财界人脉支持学校创建。
• General Douglas MacArthur, honorary chairman of the American fundraising campaign, helped ICU secure donations from individuals and foundations across the United States道格拉斯·麦克阿瑟五星上将担任美国募款运动名誉主席，帮助 ICU 获得全美个人与基金会的捐款。
• Hisato Ichimada, governor of the Bank of Japan, led the Japanese fundraising campaign that financed the purchase of the Mitaka campus land日本银行总裁一万田尚登领导日本募款运动，为购买三鹰校区土地提供了资金。
• Eleanor Roosevelt delivered ICU's first convocation address in 1953 and endorsed its commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights埃莉诺·罗斯福于 1953 年发表 ICU 首次开学演说，肯定学校对《世界人权宣言》的承诺。
• Jay Rockefeller, former U.S. senator and governor of West Virginia, studied Japanese and English at ICU from 1957 to 1959 and later received an honorary doctorate from the university美国前参议员、西弗吉尼亚州州长杰伊·洛克菲勒 1957 至 1959 年在 ICU 学习日语与英语，后来获该校荣誉博士学位。
• Kazuo Hirai, former president and chief executive of Sony, is an ICU graduate and a prominent example of its reach into global corporate leadership索尼前总裁兼首席执行官平井一夫是 ICU 校友，是该校进入全球企业领导层的代表性人物。
• Hirotaka Takeuchi, a professor at Harvard Business School known for knowledge-creation theory, studied at ICU before his academic career abroad以知识创造理论闻名的哈佛商学院教授竹内弘高在海外学术生涯前曾就读于 ICU。
• Princess Mako and Princess Kako of the Japanese imperial family both studied at ICU, bringing public attention to its liberal arts model日本皇室的真子内亲王与佳子内亲王都曾在 ICU 就读，使该校的博雅教育模式受到公众关注。
• Takeshi Amemiya, an econometrician and professor emeritus at Stanford University, is an ICU alumnus who helped build the university's reputation in economics计量经济学家、斯坦福大学荣休教授雨宫健是 ICU 校友，为学校在经济学领域的声誉作出贡献。
• Shigeru Miyagawa, a linguist and Kochi-Manjiro Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is an ICU graduate who has worked on bilingual and online education语言学家、麻省理工学院 Kochi-Manjiro 讲席教授宫川繁是 ICU 毕业生，长期从事双语与在线教育研究。
• Albert Chan, a chemist who became president of Hong Kong Baptist University, studied at ICU in 1975 and later led one of Hong Kong's oldest liberal arts universities化学家、香港浸会大学校长陈新滋 1975 年就读于 ICU，后来领导这所香港历史最悠久的博雅大学之一。
• Kazuko Yokoo, a justice of the Supreme Court of Japan, is an ICU graduate and one of the university's most senior alumni in the Japanese judiciary日本最高法院法官横尾和子是 ICU 校友，也是该校在日本司法界职位最高的毕业生之一。
• Kei Komuro, a lawyer at Lowenstein Sandler and the husband of former Princess Mako, studied at ICU before legal training in Japan and the United States在 Lowenstein Sandler 任职的律师、前真子内亲王丈夫小室圭曾在 ICU 就读，后在日本与美国接受法律训练。
• Iwao Ayusawa, a labour economist and Quaker who joined the faculty in 1952, helped define ICU's social-science curriculum and its commitment to international labour standards劳工经济学家、贵格会信徒鲇泽严于 1952 年加入教师队伍，参与界定 ICU 的社会科学课程及其对国际劳工标准的承诺。
• Michiko Chiura, an archaeologist on the faculty until her death in 1982, taught prehistoric archaeology at ICU during its first three decades考古学家千浦美智子在校任教直至 1982 年去世，在 ICU 最初三十年里教授史前考古学。
• Paul Hastings, executive director of the Japan ICU Foundation, has led the New York-based foundation's scholarships, faculty exchange and campus-building grants for ICU日本国际基督教大学基金会执行主任保罗·黑斯廷斯领导这家纽约基金会为 ICU 提供奖学金、教师交流与校园建设资助。
• Toshio Arima, a former president of Fuji Xerox, is an ICU graduate who later chaired the university's international exchange and fundraising initiatives富士施乐前总裁有马利男是 ICU 校友，后来主持该校的国际交流与筹款活动。
• Nozomi Watanabe, an Olympic ice dancer who competed with Akiyuki Kido, studied at ICU and represents the university's record of producing athletes alongside scholars与木户章之搭档参加奥运会的冰舞选手渡边望曾在 ICU 就读，是该校在学者之外也培养运动员的代表。
• Mariko Peters, a former Dutch politician and civil servant, studied at ICU and later worked on international law and human rights in the Netherlands and abroad荷兰前政治家与公务员玛丽科·彼得斯曾就读于 ICU，后来在荷兰及海外从事国际法与人权工作。