Nanzan University (南山大学, Nanzan daigaku) is a private, Catholic and coeducational higher education institution run by the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in the Shōwa Ward of Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is considered to be one of the most prestigious private universities in the Chūbu region.
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History
Nanzan is named after the forested mountains near Goken'ya-chō (五軒家町), known as Minamiyama (南山), which literally means "southern mountain". The on reading for "南山" is Nanzan. Also, in Chinese poetry "南山" refers to Mount Lushan until the Tang dynasty and Mount Zhongnan thereafter. Notably, the word appears in the classical poetry collection Shi Jing and the works of famous poet Li Bai. Thus, the choice of name is a celebration of longevity, perseverance, and prosperity for both the school and its alumni.
Divine Word Missionary Josef Reiners founded Nanzan Junior High School in 1932. Nanzan Foreign Language School was added to the Nanzan system in 1946. Later, as the Society of the Divine Word appointed Rev. Ralph Thyken, the American representative of Fu Jen Catholic University, to Japan to participate in the establishment of a new Nagoya Catholic University, and Nanzan Foreign Language School was formally renamed Nanzan University in 1949.
Located to the east of the campus is the Divine Word Seminary Chapel, constructed in 1962. This is a building that exploits the plastic capacity of concrete, with two intersecting shells forming a bell tower. These are punctured with vertical slots which allow light to radiate along the curved interior walls.
Nanzan Junior College (南山短期大学, Nanzan Tanki Daigaku) opened in 1968 as a women's junior college affiliated with the university. In 2011 the junior college campus was closed and reorganized as a department on Nanzan University's Nagoya campus offering courses in English language.
In 1995, Nagoya Seirei Junior College was subsumed by Nanzan when the two schools' organizations merged. In 2008, Nanzan planned to open an elementary school, officially named Nanzan University Affiliated Elementary School.
The campus was designed by Antonin Raymond (1988-1976), a Czech-born architect who studied under Frank Lloyd Wright in the United States and was sent to oversee construction of Wright's Tokyo Imperial Hotel; he stayed in the country and became one of the fathers of modern architecture in Japan. In 1961, Raymond was commissioned to design most buildings on the Nagoya campus. It was one of the largest projects that he would undertake. The campus was orientated on a north–south axis across rolling hills and the eight buildings were arranged to suit the typography and harmonise with the landscape. In-situ concrete is used throughout the scheme and each building has its own concrete form, some with pilotis, others with shells.
Organization
Nanzan University is part of Nanzan School Corporation (南山学園, Nanzan gakuen), an educational complex of four high schools, and the university itself. Among coeducational universities, Nanzan is the only Catholic missionary school in the Chūbu region.
Nanzan has an active study abroad program with over 100 partner universities around the world. The Center for Japanese Studies opened in 1974, and is now one of the most prestigious Japanese language programs in Japan, accepting over 300 students a year into its fall, spring and summer programs.
For many years, Nanzan has held an annual competition with its Catholic sister schools Sophia University (上智大学, Jōchi daigaku) primarily focusing on athletics. Combining the first two syllables in Japanese of the respective schools, the Nanzan-Sophia event is known as the Jōnan-sen (上南戦).
The humanities department offers priest training courses through its Christian studies curriculum.
Campus
Nanzan's campus is in Yagoto, in the eastern part of Nagoya, in Shōwa-ku. The campus is about a 10-minute walk from either Nagoya Daigaku (名古屋大学) or Yagoto Nisseki (八事日赤) station on the Nagoya Municipal Subway's Meijō Line. Alternately, campus is a 15-minute walk from Irinaka (いりなか) on the subway's Tsurumai Line.
Faculties and departments
Faculty of Humanities
Department of Christian Studies
Department of Anthropology and Philosophy
Department of Psychology and Human Relations
Department of Japanese Studies
Faculty of Foreign Studies
Department of British and American Studies
Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies
Department of French Studies
Department of German Studies
Department of Asian Studies
Faculty of Economics
Department of Economics
Faculty of Business Administration
Department of Business Administration
Faculty of Law
Department of Law
Faculty of Policy Studies
Department of Policy Studies
Faculty of Science and Technology
Department of Software Engineering
Department of Data Science
Department of Electronics and Communication Technology
Graduate schools and programs
Graduate School of Humanities
Graduate Program in Christian Thought
Graduate Program in Religious Thought
Graduate Program in Anthropology
Graduate Program in Educational Facilitation
Graduate Program in Linguistic Science
Graduate School of International Area Studies
Graduate Program in International Area Studies
Graduate School of Social Sciences
Graduate Program in Economics
Graduate Program in Management
Graduate Program in Policy Studies
Graduate School of Law
Graduate Program in Law
Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering
Graduate Program of Software Engineering
Graduate Program of Data Science
Graduate Program of Electronics and Communication Technology
Graduate Program of Mechanical Engineering and System Control
Graduate Program of Mechatronics
Notable alumni and students
Ryohei, R&B singer.
Masato Hayakawa, frontman of rock band Coldrain.
Home Made Kazoku, hip hop trio.
Sakon Yamamoto, racecar driver (currently enrolled).
Kazuki Nakajima, racecar driver (currently enrolled).
Affiliations
Nanzan is a member of the ASEACCU (Association of Southeast and East Asian Catholic Colleges and Universities), an organization of Catholic institutes of higher learning in the Philippines, Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia and Japan. In addition to Nanzan, there are seven other Japanese members, including Sophia.
Sister schools
Sophia University
Associated schools
Nanzan Elementary School
Nanzan Boys' Junior and Senior High School
Nanzan Girls' Junior and Senior High School
Seirei Girls' Junior and Senior High School
Misono Jogakuin Junior and Senior High School
Misono Kindergarten
Misono Maria Kindergarten