Kanagawa University: Programs, Tuition, Student Life & Exchanges

Wondering whether Kanagawa University (KU) in Yokohama should be on your Japan short list? This guide walks you through the essentials—campuses and faculties, admissions touchpoints, scholarships, student life, weather and lifestyle, outbound exchanges, and early career outcomes—using trusted sources you can verify. KU blends a classic Yokohama main campus with a striking Minato Mirai site and strong science and engineering traditions. If you want an urban, well-connected base near Tokyo with real research depth, KU deserves a close look.

Quick Facts

Snapshot figures below are drawn primarily from Times Higher Education (THE) KU profile and KU’s official pages. Always confirm the latest details with the university.

Type (National/Public/Private)	Private
Total Students	Approx. 18,340 (THE)
Campuses	Yokohama (Main), Minato Mirai, Shonan Hiratsuka — see THE campus overview and KU Library’s About Library page.
Faculties/Schools	Law; Economics; Business Administration; Foreign Languages; Human Sciences; Cross-Cultural & Japanese Studies; Science; Engineering; Architecture & Building Engineering; Chemistry & Biochemistry; Informatics — reference: KU researcher portal Information on researchers.
Tuition Fees	Varies by faculty/degree. Confirm via official admissions pages; scholarship/tuition reduction info available on Study in Japan (official).
Gender Ratio	Approx. Female:Male ~32:68 (THE)
Intl-Student %	Listed as ~0% on THE (official KU figures may differ by year/program)
Students per Staff	~13.8 (THE)

Campus Maps

Yokohama Campus (Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama)

Address: 3-27-1 Rokkakubashi, Kanagawa Ward, Yokohama 221-8686, Japan

Minatomirai Campus (Nishi-ku, Yokohama)

Address: 4-5-3 Minatomirai, Nishi Ward, Yokohama 220-8739, Japan

Shonan-Hiratsuka Campus (Hiratsuka, Kanagawa)

Address: 2946 Tsuchiya, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa 259-1293, Japan

Mission, History & Founding Story

Kanagawa University (KU) is a comprehensive private university rooted in Yokohama’s port-city dynamism. Its history reaches back to 1928, and over time KU has grown into a multi-faculty institution spanning humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields. Today, the university’s identity fuses practical urban energy with a strong culture of research and community engagement. A quick read of THE’s KU profile captures the broad shape—multiple faculties, significant student population, and an urban main campus—while KU’s own English pages give helpful specifics.

Internationally, KU positions itself as a welcoming base for exchange and short-term programs. The official Study in Japan (JASSO) school detail presents KU in English and links to basic info. Within KU, the Library network is an anchor for learning and research; the university operates three libraries—Yokohama Library, Minato Mirai Library (opened 2021), and Hiratsuka Library—outlined on the Library’s About Library page.

KU’s academic footprint covers 11 undergraduate faculties, backed by graduate schools and research centers. The full roster is best viewed on KU’s English-language researcher portal—handy for checking departments and academic staff—via Information on researchers. Meanwhile, the Minato Mirai campus has become a hallmark of KU’s modernization: a vertical, multi-purpose academic building in Yokohama’s waterfront district that concentrates Business Administration, Foreign Languages, and Cross-Cultural & Japanese Studies, with Library floors embedded for seamless study. The Library’s Minato Mirai floor guides and access pages give a feel for the layout and services in English.

Key Strengths & Unique Features

Three-Library, Multi-Campus Connectivity

For everyday learning, the three-library structure (Yokohama, Minato Mirai, Hiratsuka) is a practical advantage. It means you’ll have reading rooms, periodicals, and stacks wherever your classes cluster. Start with the Library’s English pages: About Library, services/borrowing, and Minato Mirai floor maps—these outline access rules, reading rooms (including silent floors), and where current newspapers and journals are kept.

Engineering & Architecture with Industry Proximity

KU’s Graduate School of Engineering presents clearly organized fields and courses in English, helpful for prospective researchers and postgrads. Explore the program gateways: Graduate overview and the Engineering course pages—for example, Mechanical Engineering’s Career Paths and Industrial Engineering & Management’s Career Paths. For built environment interests, Architecture & Building Engineering provides English pages, including career paths and curriculum outlines.

Humanities Research: Japanese Folk Culture & Nonwritten Materials

KU is home to unique research in Japanese studies and folklore. A highlight is the Research Center for Nonwritten Cultural Materials (Institute for the Study of Japanese Folk Culture). Its English pages detail academic exchange and collaborations: Academic Exchange and the Center overview (English site menu).

Global Liberal-Arts Touchpoints

KU runs frequent English-accessible talks and exchange programming. For instance, the “International Japanese Studies Talk Series” at Minato Mirai (English program PDF) showcases a steady pipeline of public academic talks in English—useful if you want academic community in English alongside Japanese-language study. See recent schedules here: Talk Series (English PDF).

Flagship Areas (Examples)

Graduate School of Engineering: broad fields with English pages for each specialization (see overview and field pages).
Faculty of Science: English site including departments and contact plus the Shonan Hiratsuka address (Faculty of Science (EN)).
Architecture & Building Engineering: English pages with curriculum/paths (career paths).

Student Life for Internationals

Clubs & Circles Welcoming Overseas Students

To get a feel for campus culture, KU’s community magazine materials are useful snapshots (even if older). One example: “ENJOY! GLOBAL LIFE” in the KU magazine (PDF): Magazine feature (PDF).

Dedicated Support Offices (Visa, Housing, Counseling)

For exchange students, KU publishes updated English guidelines covering application, course registration, credits, and language requirements. See: Application Information for Exchange Program (EN, PDF).

Language-Exchange & Buddy Programs

Recent samples of KU’s language-exchange collaborations appear in KU International Center PDFs, e.g., sessions with partner universities:
・Konkuk University (Korea): event report (PDF)
・Ilia State University (Georgia): event report (PDF)
・Christ University (India): event report (PDF)

Partner Institutions & Exchange Options

KU’s exchange framework (for inbound/outbound) is summarized in the official English guidelines, including subject registration, language requirements, and credit maximums. Start here and branch out to your faculty’s pages for specifics: Exchange Program Guidelines (EN, PDF).

Local Climate & Lifestyle

Weather Patterns (Yokohama)

Expect mild winters and warm, humid summers. For recent climate normals and monthly means, see the Japan Meteorological Agency’s Yokohama station monthly data (Eng.): JMA Yokohama monthly means. July–September are typically the hottest months; winter lows are modest compared to many inland cities.

Lifestyle, Safety & Cost of Living

As Japan’s second-largest city, Yokohama is vibrant yet manageable. To benchmark living costs (rent, groceries, dining), check crowd-sourced but widely consulted data at Numbeo: Yokohama. For emergency information (police/ambulance numbers, disaster preparedness) see official city pages: travel portal Emergency Services and the City of Yokohama’s English disaster-preparedness pages (Disaster Preparedness & Emergencies).

International Student Statistics

Third-party dashboards sometimes lag campus changes. THE lists international-student share near 0% for KU, which may undercount short-term/exchange participants. Use THE for comparable ratios and check KU’s own pages for the most recent, program-specific totals.

Career & Graduate Prospects

Career services and employer pipelines are rooted in each faculty. For STEM directions, browse graduate field pages (e.g., Engineering—Mechanical, Industrial/Management, Architecture) for lab lists, professor profiles, and career path examples: Mechanical (career paths) / Industrial & Management (career paths) / Architecture (career paths). The Faculty of Science (EN) site consolidates links to departments and researcher profiles to help you target labs with strong placement histories.