Tohoku Gakuin University

Tohoku Gakuin University (東北学院大学) is a private university in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It was founded under the influence of Christian Reformed missionaries.

Times Higher Education places Tohoku Gakuin University in the 150+ bracket in its ranking of Japan's 200 best universities.

History
The university was founded in 1886 (Meiji 19) as Sendai Theological Seminary by Oshikawa Masayoshi (1850–1928), one of Japan's first Protestants, and Protestant missionary William Edwin Hoy. Oshikawa, an ex-samurai in Matsuyama became the seminary's first president. In 1891, the school was renamed Tohoku Gakuin (東北學院) and a course for non-Christian students was added.

The first president Oshikawa resigned in 1901 and was succeeded by David Bowman Schneder (1857–1938). In 1904, college courses were added and authorized by the Specialized School Order. The college at first had two Departments: Letters, Theology. In 1918, Normal School and the Department of Commerce were added. In 1926, the main building (still used today) was built in Tsuchitoi Campus. Schneder left the college due to age, but even in his last days he had strong faith and gave the sermon titled "I am not ashamed of the gospel" (1936, the 50th anniversary of the school).

During World War II, the college was virtually forced to stop functioning and Tohoku Gakuin College of Aeronautical Engineering (東北學院航空工業專門學校) was established instead (1944–1947).

After the war, following education reforms in Japan, it was reorganized into the Tohoku Gakuin University in 1949.

Undergraduate Faculties

 * Letters (in Tsuchitoi Campus, Aoba-ku, Sendai)
 * Economics (in Tsuchitoi Campus)
 * Business Administration (in Tsuchitoi Campus)
 * Law (in Tsuchitoi Campus)
 * Engineering (in Tagajo Campus)
 * Liberal Arts (in Izumi Campus, Izumi-ku, Sendai)

Graduate schools

 * Letters
 * Economics
 * Business Administration
 * Law (including Law School)
 * Engineering
 * Human Informatics (in Izumi Campus)

Notable alumni

 * Tōru Doi (Member of the lower house)
 * Takayuki Kishi (Professional baseball player)
 * Takeshi Koike (Announcer for Aomori Broadcasting Corporation)
 * Kazuko Kōri (Member of the lower house)
 * Takeo Mabashi (Basketball coach)
 * Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (Composer, singer)
 * Masashi Nakano (Member of the lower house, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry cabinet minister)
 * Shunrō Oshikawa (Science fiction author)
 * Norio Sasaki (Composer)
 * Kyōka Suzuki (Actress)
 * Kenichi Takahashi (Professional basketball player)
 * Yūji Takahashi (Announcer for Iwate Menkoi Television)
 * Kōichi Yamadera (voice actor and actor)