Ochanomizu University

About Ochanomizu University

Ochanomizu University (お茶の水女子大学 Ochanomizu Joshi Daigaku, affectionately known across Japan as Ochadai - お茶大), located in Otsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, traces its distinguished origins back to 1875 with the establishment of Tokyo Women’s Normal School (東京女子師範学校). Chartered in 1949 as a national university corporation, Ochanomizu is one of only two national women’s universities in Japan (alongside Nara Women’s University) and stands as one of East Asia’s most venerable, prestigious, and intellectually influential institutions dedicated to women’s higher education and leadership development. The university provides an exceptionally rigorous and nurturing academic environment across 4 undergraduate faculties—Faculty of Letters and Education, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Human Life and Environmental Sciences, and the newly launched Faculty of Transdisciplinary Engineering (est. April 2024)—alongside the multidisciplinary Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences (offering Master’s and Doctoral degrees). Notably, Ochanomizu houses the pioneering Institute for Gender Studies (IGS), serving as Japan’s foremost hub for gender policy, feminist theory, and socioeconomic equity research. With an intimate student body of roughly 3,000 scholars, Ochanomizu offers exceptionally small class sizes, high faculty-to-student ratios, cutting-edge laboratory infrastructure, and generous financial aid. International students benefit from statutory national university tuition rates (¥535,800/yr), 50% to 100% National Tuition Fee Exemptions, MEXT government scholarships, and dedicated on-campus housing including the Ochadai Student Community Commons (SCC) and Otowa-kan.