CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES. — In T. there are three universities, to which may be added the one located at Nagoya, with a total student population of 3,000.
I. Sophia University (Jochi Daigaku), founded in T. in 1913 by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, by whom it is directed. It comprises the following Faculties: a) Arts, with sections of philosophy, literature, history, pedagogy, and journalism; attached to the philosophy section is the canonically erected ecclesiastical Faculty of Philosophy; b) Economics, with sections of national economics and commerce. Already recognized by the Japanese government in 1951, it also obtained recognition for the higher course (Graduate course). It is currently (1953) attended by 1,220 students, of whom 305 are Catholics, and its director is Fr. Oizumi S. I.
The following publications are issued by this University: a) Monumenta Nipponica, in semiannual issues, containing studies in foreign languages, dealing especially with Japanese Christian antiquities and their historical period, as well as cultural and scientific contacts between East and West. The publication is directed by Fr. Wilhelm Schiffer S. I. When it first appeared
in 1937, no fewer than 400 government institutions immediately subscribed to II. b) Sophia Kirishistan Bunko (since 1940), which is a bibliographical catalogue of works concerning Christian antiquities and their historical period. It is published once a year under the direction of Fr. Laurens S. I. c) Sophia, a quarterly journal, begun in March 1952. Written in Japanese, with summaries in English, it is the organ of the University. It deals with scientific and cultural questions of interest to East and West. d) Seiki, a monthly periodical. It is associated with the Fathers of the University. Popular in character, it is intended for intellectuals. Within a few years, that is, in the postwar period, the University has produced no fewer than 200 books and articles, for the most part scientific in character. To contribute to the sound religious and moral formation of the students, a boarding house attached to the «Studium» is in operation. It accommodates 160 students. The University is also the headquarters of two important groups of scholars: the Federation of Catholic Physicians and the Society of Catholic Scientists.
II. Seishin Daigaku, founded by the religious of the Sacred Heart in T. Formerly affiliated with the Catholic University of Washington, it was officially recognized by the government in 1950 and authorized to award diplomas in English and Japanese literature and a licentiate in history. Until that year, no women’s university in Japan had been authorized to provide higher education beyond the baccalaureate. The University publishes a yearbook.
III. Seisen Jochi Daigaku, founded by the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart as a higher school of languages in 1949 and recognized by the government as a university in 1950. Diplomas in English and Japanese literature are awarded there. There are more than 100 female students.
IV. Nanzan University is located in Nagoya and was founded by the Fathers of the Society of the Divine Word. Initially opened as a higher school of foreign languages, it was subsequently expanded and recognized by the Japanese government as a university-level institution in 1949. The Faculty of Arts comprises the following sections: literature, languages and literatures of the Far East (Japanese and Chinese), philosophy and pedagogy, and legal and social sciences. An anthropological institute is attached to it, connected with the «Anthropos» Institute of Freiburg in Switzerland, directed by the well-known Fr. Wilhelm Schmidt, supernumerary pontifical academician. The Institute’s organ is the scientific periodical Gakkai zasshi (Man and Culture). The University has 160 professors and 1,034 students; associated with it are four secondary schools, for boys and girls, with more than 2,000 students and 120 professors.
There are also two university «Colleges»: several higher schools, including one for the Japanese language for missionaries, directed by the Friars Minor in T., founded at the initiative of Fr. Schnusenberg, O. F. M. general delegate for the Far East, and inaugurated on 10 Sept. 1951. — Vedi tav. XXII.