Program Overview

About Sophia University

Sophia University is a private Catholic Jesuit university founded in 1913 located in the heart of Tokyo, aiming to educate “men and women for the others, with others”. The campus is centrally located in Tokyo, the center of politics and economics.

Sophia University led the move to internationalization in Japan, providing study and educational opportunities that take our increasingly complex world into account. Over the years, the university has created an original global network that allows researchers and students from overseas to teach and study in Japan, and Japanese researchers and students to do same abroad. There are currently 500 full-time teaching staff from 20 countries, and 12,000 students with diverse backgrounds.

Sophia's reputation for excellence in undergraduate education, outstanding graduate programs, and a competitive research environment enables it to maintain its ranking as one of Japan's top private universities. Students benefit immensely from the ability to study the latest developments in their chosen field of specialization with distinguished Japanese and international faculty members. Reflecting the quality of their education, Sophia graduates are highly regarded as leaders in the global workplace at multinational companies and international organizations.

About Tokyo

Tokyo is one of the most populous cities in the world. A thriving center of economy, culture and industry.

Tokyo consists of the southwestern part of the Kanto region, the Izu Islands, and the Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, and the place where over 13 million people live, making it one of the most populous cities in the world. When the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu established a government there in the early 17th century, the area started to develop, spreading out around his residence, Edo Castle. Most of the city was devastated by the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, and then again by the bombing in the WWII, however, Tokyo was able to achieve a remarkably rapid recovery both times.

Tokyo is not only the political and economical center of Japan, it has also emerged as a center of the world economy and culture. There are a number of attractions in Tokyo that should not be missed. There are large-scale downtown areas, including Ginza where famous shops from around the world stand side by side, the sleepless Shinjuku that has become the "new city center of Tokyo," Asakusa which is reminiscent of the traditional Edo (the former name of Tokyo), and Shibuya that starts the trends for the young people. Other unique areas include the computer town Akihabara, a dense retail area where numerous electronic shops compete against each other, attracting many shoppers from Japan and overseas, and Tsukiji, an open-air wholesale food market catering to shops and consumers everywhere in Japan.

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Academic

Click Here for a list of courses offered to exchange students.

Term date

• Host Institutions usually organize orientation activities for exchange students, with some mandatory, which take place 1-2 weeks before the start of the term. You should refer to the acceptance package and pay attention to the expected arrival or pick-up dates specified by your host institution.
• You should only depart after finishing all the final examinations (including resits) since host institutions will not make special arrangement for taking any examinations other than scheduled.
• Please CLICK HERE for more information on host institution’s term dates.