Message from the Dean

The Faculty of Letters of Nara Women’s Higher Normal School, established in 1908, was the predecessor of the Faculty of Letters, Nara Women’s University. During an age when women were not permitted to enroll at imperial universities, this school was one of only two government-run women’s higher normal schools providing higher education to women. Carrying on this tradition, Nara Women’s University today continues to provide higher education for women.

In 2022, Nara Women’s University is to undergo a corporate merger with the Nara University of Education. This merger will consolidate the two national university corporations that currently operate Nara Women’s University and the Nara University of Education, respectively; it will not merge the two universities themselves. Both Nara Women’s University and the Nara University of Education will continue to exist as independent educational institutions. Nara Women’s University will not disappear but rather continue to push forward with women’s education in the future as a women’s university. Merging the two national university corporations will enable their respective strengths and characteristics to be utilized, fostering cooperation centered on liberal arts education and teacher education with the aim of creating an even better educational system.

Learning at university is fundamentally active learning. Unlike learning until high school, students are required to think and decide for themselves “What do I need to learn?” and “What do I need to know?” Naturally, we educators provide support for students’ learning. Another incredibly important aspect of learning is “acquiring knowledge”. A plethora of events occur around the world every day. Through study at university, we want our students to turn their eyes on the wider world and discover what is happening right now across the globe, making the realization that there are people who think and feel differently from themselves. We also want our students to think about how they themselves can and will become involved in these various events moving forward.

I would be delighted if you were able to discover and pursue your very own research theme here at Nara Women’s University.

Michiko Nakayama