Okayama University

Okayama University (Japanese: 岡山大学) is a national university in the city of Okayama, in Okayama Prefecture, in the Chūgoku region of western Japan, and its history reaches back to a medical training place opened by the Okayama Domain in 1870.冈山大学（日语：岡山大学）是位于日本西部中国地方冈山县冈山市的一所国立大学，其历史可追溯至1870年由冈山藩设立的医学馆。

It was established as a comprehensive university in 1949 through the merger of several older institutions, among them Okayama Medical College and the Sixth Higher School.该校于1949年由冈山医学专门学校、第六高等学校等多所旧制学校合并，正式成为一所综合性大学。

Today it has ten faculties, seven graduate schools, several research institutes and a university hospital, enrols about 13,500 students, and was placed in the 1001-1200 band of the 2027 QS World University Rankings.该校现有十个学部、七个研究科、若干研究所与一所附属医院，在校学生约一万三千五百人，并在2027年QS世界大学排名中位列第1001-1200位区间。

History

• Okayama University traces its origin to 1870, when the Okayama Domain, or Okayama-Han, opened a medical training place for the instruction of physicians on the northern shore of the Inland Sea.冈山大学的渊源可追溯至1870年，当时冈山藩为培养医者而在濑户内海北岸开设了一处医学馆。
• After the abolition of the feudal domains, that school became a prefectoral medical institution in 1880 and was merged into a national school in 1888 to constitute the Medical Faculty.废藩置县后，该校于1880年转为县立医学机构，并于1888年并入一所官立学校而组成医学部。
• The medical faculty became an independent school in 1901 and was renamed as a four-year medical school for men aged about seventeen to twenty-one.这一医学部于1901年成为独立学校，并改名为四年制的医学专门学校，主要招收约十七至二十一岁的男性。
• In 1922 the school was chartered as a four-year medical college admitting men aged about nineteen to twenty-three, a decisive step towards full medical higher education in the city.1922年，该校获准升格为四年制医学专门学校，招收约十九至二十三岁的男性，是迈向完整医学高等教育的决定性一步。
• The Sixth Higher School, founded in 1900, became the city's leading institution of preparatory higher education and later supplied the new university with much of its teaching staff.创设于1900年的第六高等学校成为该市最重要的旧制高等教育预备机构，其后为新大学提供了大量师资。
• The Ōhara Institute for Agricultural Research was founded in 1914 by the industrialist Magosaburō Ōhara in Kurashiki, and it was later integrated into the university.大原农业研究所由实业家大原孙三郎于1914年在仓敷创设，其后并入该大学。
• In 1949, after the Second World War, Okayama Medical College and other national and public colleges of the prefecture were merged to establish Okayama University under Japan's new education system.1949年，第二次世界大战结束后，冈山医学专门学校与该县其他国立、公立学校合并，依日本新学制设立冈山大学。
• At its foundation the university had five faculties, namely Law and Letters, Education, Science, Agriculture and Medicine, and it grew steadily through the following decades.建校之初，该校设法文学、教育、理、农、医五个学部，并在其后数十年间持续发展。
• The Tsushima Campus had been a camp of the Imperial Japanese Army's 17th Division, and in 1947 students of the Sixth Higher School, whose buildings had burned in the war, occupied the former barracks and made them their campus.津岛校区原为日本帝国陆军第十七师团的营地，1947年，校舍在战火中焚毁的第六高等学校学生占据旧兵营，将其作为自己的校园。
• In 1951 the Ōhara Institute joined the university, was reorganised into the Institute for Agricultural and Biological Sciences in 1953, and became the Research Institute for Bioresources in 1988.1951年，大原研究所并入该校，1953年改组为农业生物研究所，1988年又成为生物资源研究所。
• The Faculty of Engineering was established in 1960, reflecting the growing demand for applied science and technology in western Japan.工学部于1960年设立，反映了日本西部对应用科学与技术日益增长的需求。
• In 1955 the university established its first graduate course, a doctoral programme in medicine, marking the beginning of postgraduate education at Okayama University.1955年，该校设立首个研究生课程，即医学研究科博士课程，标志着冈山大学研究生教育的开端。
• In 1967 Professor Jun Kobayashi, an analytical chemist in the Faculty of Agriculture, announced that itai-itai disease, a severe condition in Toyama Prefecture, was caused by cadmium poisoning.1967年，农学部分析化学教授小林纯宣布，富山县流行的重症「痛痛病」是由镉中毒所致。
• The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences was established in 1976 and the Dental School followed in 1979 at the Shikata Campus, strengthening the university's health-science teaching.药学部于1976年设立，齿学部随后于1979年在鹿田校区成立，加强了该校的健康科学教学。
• In 1980 the Faculty of Law and Letters was divided into three separate faculties, namely Letters, Law and Economics, giving the humanities and social sciences their own administrative homes.1980年，法文学部被分为文学、法律与经济三个独立学部，使人文学科与社会科学各自有了独立的建制。
• The Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology was established in 1994, broadening the university's coverage of the natural and applied sciences.环境理工学部于1994年设立，拓宽了该校在自然科学与应用科学领域的覆盖面。
• In 2004, under the National University Corporation Act, Okayama University was reorganized as a National University Corporation with greater operational and financial autonomy.2004年，依据国立大学法人法，冈山大学改组为国立大学法人，获得更大的办学与财务自主权。
• In 2013 the university was selected for Japan's Research University Enhancement programme and designated a core hospital for clinical research, recognising its medical research capacity.2013年，该校入选日本研究大学强化促进事业，并被指定为临床研究中核医院，其医学研究实力由此获得认可。
• In 2014 the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology chose the university as one of thirty-seven Top Global Universities to support internationalisation.2014年，文部科学省将该校选为三十七所顶尖全球大学之一，以支持其国际化发展。
• In April 2021 the School of Engineering was reborn through the reorganisation of two faculties, which left the university with its present ten faculties.2021年4月，工学部经两个学部重组而重新组建，此后该校形成如今的十个学部格局。
• Alongside its degree programmes the university operates attached schools from kindergarten to upper secondary level, extending its educational mission below university level.除学位课程外，该校还设有自幼儿园至高中阶段的附属学校，将其教育使命延伸至大学以下阶段。

Academics

• Okayama University is organised into ten faculties, namely Letters, Education, Law, Economics, Science, Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Engineering and Agriculture.冈山大学设十个学部，即文学、教育、法律、经济、理、医、齿、药、工与农学部。
• Its seven graduate schools cover education, humanities and social sciences, natural science and technology, health sciences, environmental and life science, and medicine, dentistry and pharmaceutical sciences, together with a law school.其七个研究科涵盖教育、人文社会科学、自然科学与技术、保健学、环境生命科学以及医齿药学，并设法科大学院。
• Together with the faculties and graduate schools the university maintains four authorized research institutes, a university hospital and several attached schools.除各学部与研究科外，该校还设有四个获认定的研究所、一所附属医院与若干附属学校。
• In 2025 the university employed 1,551 faculty members and 2,668 administrative, technical and medical staff, a combined total of 4,229 people.2025年，该校共有教师1551人，另有行政、技术与医疗职员2668人，合计4229人。
• As of 2025 the university enrolled 13,525 students, of whom 10,246 were undergraduates and 3,279 were graduate students.截至2025年，该校在校学生13525人，其中本科生10246人、研究生3279人。
• In its 2025 personnel data the university counted 423 professors, 342 associate professors, 101 senior assistant professors and 297 assistant professors among its teaching staff.在2025年的人员数据中，该校教师队伍包括教授423人、准教授342人、高级助教101人与助教297人。
• The Faculty of Science covers mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and earth sciences, and it is linked to the university's geoscience research facilities at Misasa.理学部涵盖数学、物理、化学、生物与地球科学，并与设于三朝的地球科学研究设施相联系。
• The Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science is one of the university's flagship units, and its professor Shen Jian-Ren received Japan's Medal with Purple Ribbon in autumn 2020.跨学科基础科学研究所是该校的旗舰研究单位之一，其教授沈建仁于2020年秋季获日本紫绶褒章。
• The Institute for the Study of the Earth's Interior, based at Misasa, is a nationwide joint-use facility serving geoscience researchers across Japan.设于三朝的固体地球研究中心是一处全国共同利用设施，为日本各地的地球科学研究提供服务。
• The Research Institute for Bioresources, with its origins in the Ōhara Institute, carries out plant, animal and environmental research at Kurashiki.生物资源研究所源自大原研究所，在仓敷开展植物、动物与环境方面的研究。
• Medical, dental and pharmaceutical teaching is concentrated in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, supported by the university hospital.医学、齿学与药学的教学集中于医齿药学府，并由附属医院提供支撑。
• The Discovery Program for Global Learners offers an English-medium undergraduate route for international and Japanese students seeking a broad interdisciplinary education.面向全球学习者的Discovery Program以英语授课，为国际学生与日本学生提供通识性的本科培养途径。
• The university maintains overseas offices in Vietnam, China and India, including offices in Shanghai and Changchun, to support student recruitment and academic exchange.该校在越南、中国与印度设有海外事务所，其中包括上海与长春事务所，以支持招生与学术交流。
• By the mid-2010s the university held 196 international exchange agreements with partner universities in 34 countries and regions.至2010年代中期，该校已与34个国家和地区的合作大学签署196项国际交流协议。
• Research output counted by OpenAlex amounts to about 103,126 works and roughly 6,055,545 citations, the largest scholarly footprint among the universities of the Chūgoku region.据OpenAlex统计，该校研究成果约103,126项、被引约6,055,545次，是中国地方各大学中学术产出规模最大者。
• In 2025 the university welcomed 3,487 new undergraduate and graduate students at its matriculation ceremony, addressed by President NASU Yasutomo.2025年，该校举行入学典礼，共迎来3487名本科与研究生新生，由校长那須保友致辞。
• The Faculty of Agriculture continues the applied-agricultural tradition of the Ōhara Institute for Agricultural Research, founded in Kurashiki in 1914.农学部延续了1914年在仓敷创设的大原农业研究所的应用农业传统。
• The Faculty of Education trains teachers and runs attached schools where its students complete teaching practice under supervising teachers.教育学部培养教师，并设有附属学校，供其学生在指导教师带领下完成教学实习。
• Okayama University Hospital serves as the principal teaching hospital of the Medical School and provides advanced care for the surrounding region.冈山大学医院是医学部的主要教学医院，并为周边地区提供先进医疗服务。

Campus

• The main Tsushima Campus stands at Tsushima-naka in the Kita ward of Okayama City, and it houses most of the faculties and the university's administrative centre.主校区津岛校区位于冈山市北区津岛中，集中了大部分学部与该校的行政中心。
• The Shikata Campus, also in Okayama City, concentrates the medical and dental faculties together with the university hospital.同在冈山市的鹿田校区集中了医学部、齿学部以及附属医院。
• The university operates several other campuses, namely Higashiyama, Hirai, Kurashiki and Misasa, spread across the prefecture and its neighbouring areas.该校另设东山、平井、仓敷与三朝等校区，分布于冈山县及其邻近地区。
• The Tsushima Campus occupies the site of a former camp of the Imperial Japanese Army's 17th Division, which was converted to academic use after 1947.津岛校区占用的是日本帝国陆军第十七师团旧营地，该地在1947年后转为教学用途。
• All campuses lie within reach of Okayama Station, a major stop on the Sanyō Shinkansen, which places the university within easy travel of Osaka and Hiroshima.各校区均在冈山站可达范围内，该站是山阳新干线的要停站，使该校往来大阪与广岛十分便捷。
• The university hospital on the Shikata Campus is a regional referral centre and supports the clinical teaching of the Medical School.鹿田校区内的附属医院是地区转诊中心，并支撑医学部的临床教学。
• Attached schools from kindergarten to upper secondary level are located near the campuses, giving education students direct access to classroom practice.自幼儿园至高中阶段的附属学校设于各校区附近，使教育学部学生得以直接接触课堂实践。
• The Research Institute for Bioresources and the Ōhara Museum occupy the Kurashiki Campus, which preserves the legacy of the institute's founder.生物资源研究所与大原美术馆位于仓敷校区，保存着研究所创办人的遗产。
• Okayama City, with the Korakuen garden and its position on the Sanyō line, shapes the setting of student life around the campuses.冈山市以其后乐园庭园与山阳线枢纽的地位，塑造了各校区周边大学生活的氛围。
• The university's campuses are distributed across Okayama Prefecture, from the urban Tsushima and Shikata sites to the research facilities at Kurashiki and Misasa.该校校区分布于冈山县各地，既有城市中的津岛与鹿田校区，也有仓敷与三朝的研究设施。
• Okayama lies on the Sanyō Shinkansen and on the Seto Ohashi route to Shikoku, so the university is accessible from across western Japan and beyond.冈山位于山阳新干线与通往四国的濑户大桥线路之上，使该校可从日本西部各地乃至更远处便捷抵达。

Reputation

• In the 2027 QS World University Rankings, Okayama University is placed in the 1001-1200 band, a shared range rather than a single position.在2027年QS世界大学排名中，冈山大学位列第1001-1200位区间，属并列区间而非单一席位。
• In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027 the university is placed in the 1001-1200 band.在2027年泰晤士高等教育世界大学排名中，该校位列第1001-1200位区间。
• In the 2026-2027 U.S. News Best Global Universities ranking it stands at number 1,049 in the world.在2026-2027年度US News全球最佳大学排名中，该校位居全球第1049位。
• The 2026 Academic Ranking of World Universities, published by ShanghaiRanking, places the university in the 501-600 band, its strongest major-table position.软科发布的2026年世界大学学术排名把该校列入第501-600位区间，是其在主要榜单中的最佳位次。
• In the 2024 QS World University Rankings the university stood in the 901-950 band, and in 2023 Times Higher Education ranked it twenty-first in Japan and 351-400 in Asia.在2024年QS世界大学排名中，该校位居第901-950位区间；2023年泰晤士高等教育则将其列为日本第21名、亚洲第351-400位区间。
• In the 2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities the university was placed in the 501-600 band worldwide, confirming its standing in research-intensive ranking tables.在2023年世界大学学术排名中，该校位列全球第501-600位区间，印证其在研究密集型榜单中的地位。
• A University Brand Image Survey conducted by Nikkei BP for 2020-2021 ranked Okayama University as the leading university in the Chūgoku and Shikoku region.日经BP社进行的2020至2021年大学品牌形象调查将冈山大学列为中国与四国地区排名第一的大学。
• OpenAlex attributes about 103,126 research works and some 6,055,545 citations to the university, the largest research output among the institutions in its ranking band in the Chūgoku region.OpenAlex收录该校约103,126项研究成果与约6,055,545次被引用，为中国地方同档院校中科研产出最大者。
• The university has been a member of the Top Global University Project of MEXT, a scheme intended to raise the international profile of selected Japanese universities.该校是文部科学省顶尖全球大学计划的成员，该计划旨在提升入选日本高校的国际形象。
• Its research strengths lie in medicine, dentistry, agriculture and environmental science, fields linked to the university hospital and the Ōhara Institute's successor, the Research Institute for Bioresources.该校的研究强项集中于医学、齿学、农学与环境科学，这些领域与其附属医院及大原研究所的继承者生物资源研究所密切相关。

Student life

• The university expresses its ethos through the phrase FUEKI-RYŪKŌ, meaning constancy and change, and through the notion of enduring attachment to the institution known as Okadai Love.该校以「不易流行」一语表达其办学精神，意为守常与应变的统一，并以「冈大之爱」表达对其机构的持久归属感。
• Students are supported by the Health Care Center and by counselling and welfare services, and many belong to faculty-level academic and cultural societies.学生由保健中心及各类咨询与福利服务提供支持，许多人还参加院系层面的学术与文化社团。
• International students come from some 37 countries and regions, and the university runs language and cultural programmes that bring Japanese and overseas students together.该校国际学生来自约37个国家和地区，并开设语言与文化项目，把日本学生与海外学生联系起来。
• The university operates student dormitories for both Japanese and international students, giving the campus a residential character around the Tsushima and Shikata sites.该校为日本学生与国际学生设有学生宿舍，使津岛与鹿田一带的校园具有住宿型特征。
• A range of sports clubs and teams compete at regional and national level, and rugby and other team sports have a long tradition on the campus.校内各类运动社团与队伍参加地区及全国性比赛，橄榄球等团队运动在校园中有着悠久的传统。
• Student life is closely tied to the city of Okayama, whose Korakuen garden, museums and shopping districts lie within easy reach of the campuses.大学生活与冈山市紧密相连，该市的后乐园庭园、博物馆与商业区都在校区的便捷可达范围内。
• Medical and dental students gain clinical experience in the university hospital, while education students complete teaching practice in the attached schools.医学与齿学学生在附属医院获得临床经验，教育学部学生则在附属学校完成教学实习。
• The university holds an international alumni congress and open events that connect current students with graduates working in Japan and abroad.该校举办国际校友大会与各类开放活动，将在校学生与在日本及海外工作的毕业生联系起来。
• The university's international exchange agreements and overseas offices give its students opportunities for study abroad in Asia, Europe and North America.该校的国际交流协议与海外事务所为其学生提供赴亚洲、欧洲与北美留学的机会。

Notable people

• Sahachiro Hata, a bacteriologist who studied medicine in Okayama, helped develop the anti-syphilitic drug arsphenamine in 1909 in Paul Ehrlich's laboratory and was nominated for the Nobel Prize.在冈山研习医学的细菌学家秦佐八郎于1909年在保罗·埃利希的实验室参与研制抗梅毒药物胂凡纳明，并曾获诺贝尔奖提名。
• Ishii Jūji, known as a founding figure of Japanese social work, entered the Okayama medical school in 1882 and went on to establish orphanages and welfare institutions.被誉为日本社会工作先驱的石井十次于1882年进入冈山的医学校就读，其后创办了孤儿院与多家福利机构。
• Shimizu Taei, a biochemist at Okayama Medical College who researched bile acids and received the Imperial Academy Prize, later served as president of Okayama University.冈山医学专门学校的生化学家清水多栄研究胆汁酸并获帝国学士院奖，其后出任冈山大学校长。
• Magosaburō Ōhara, the industrialist who founded the Ōhara Institute for Agricultural Research in 1914, is commemorated in the institute that became the university's Research Institute for Bioresources.于1914年创设大原农业研究所的实业家大原孙三郎，因其研究所后来成为该校的生物资源研究所而为人所纪念。
• Yunoki Michiyoshi, a politician from Kurashiki, and other graduates have entered the National Diet of Japan, giving the university a presence in national politics.出身仓敷的政治家柚木道義等毕业生进入日本国会，使该校在全国政界保有一席之地。
• Shunputei Shōkichi, a rakugo storyteller, and Seiki Yoshioka, a professional wrestler, are among the university's graduates in the performing arts and sport.落语家春風亭昇吉与职业摔跤手吉冈清纪，是该校在表演艺术与体育领域的毕业生代表。
• Hirochi Atsushi, a graduate of the Faculty of Law and Letters who became an executive of the textile firm Gunze, is another of the university's business figures.毕业于法文学部、后出任纺织企业郡是公司高管的廣地厚，是该校另一位企业界人物。
• Shen Jian-Ren, a professor at the university's Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science noted for research on photosynthesis, received the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2020.该校跨学科基础科学研究所教授沈建仁以光合作用研究著称，并于2020年获紫绶褒章。
• President NASU Yasutomo, a urologist and graduate of the university's own medical school, took office as head of the institution in the 2020s.校长那須保友是泌尿科医师，亦为该校医学院毕业生，于2020年代出任校长。
• Jun Kobayashi, the professor who identified cadmium as the cause of itai-itai disease in 1967, remains one of the university's most cited figures in environmental health.1967年查明镉是痛痛病成因的教授小林纯，至今仍是该校在环境健康领域最常被提及的人物之一。