Sophia University

About Sophia University

Sophia University (上智大学 - Jōchi Daigaku / Sophia), founded in 1913 by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and chartered under the University Act in 1928, is one of Japan’s most prestigious, historic, and internationally acclaimed private universities. Located in the diplomatic and cultural heart of central Tokyo at Yotsuya (Chiyoda-ku), Sophia is a member of the elite "Sōkōjōchi" (早慶上智 - Waseda, Keio, Sophia) triad of private universities and was selected by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for the Top Global University Project (Super Global University Type B - Global Traction). Tracing its international vision to the 16th-century arrival of Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier, Sophia was the first university in Japan to establish English-taught degree programs, beginning with its International Division in 1949 which evolved into the world-renowned Faculty of Liberal Arts (FLA). Today, Sophia educates more than 13,800 students—including over 2,000 international students from more than 85 nations and an international faculty ratio exceeding 17%—across 9 undergraduate faculties and 10 graduate schools. Sophia offers comprehensive English-taught bachelor’s programs, including the Faculty of Liberal Arts (FLA), the Sophia Program for Sustainable Futures (SPSF) encompassing 6 academic departments, and the Faculty of Science and Technology’s Green Science and Green Engineering programs. At the graduate level, the Graduate School of Global Studies (GSGS), Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (GES), and Science & Technology programs offer cutting-edge advanced research entirely in English. Guided by its Christian humanist educational philosophy "For Others, with Others," Sophia fosters globally minded leaders through exchanges with over 400 partner institutions across 80 countries, state-of-the-art facilities in the 17-story Sophia Tower, and generous institutional scholarship programs.