Akita International University

About

Akita International University (, Kokusai Kyōyō Daigaku), or AIU, is a public university located in Akita City, Akita Prefecture, Japan. Established in 2004 and modeled on American liberal arts colleges, AIU is one of the few universities in Japan offering all of its courses in English. It has currently 211 international partner institutions in 52 different countries and regions. The president of AIU is Monte Cassim.

During trade summit meetings in 1986, negotiations began between Japanese and American officials to establish a university in Akita Prefecture. In May 1990, the government of Minnesota in the United States reached an agreement with Akita Prefecture to establish a campus of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) on a 50,725 square meter plot of land. Students completed English classes and general education classes at the Minnesota State University—Akita campus and studied in the US to complete classes for their majors at one of the Minnesota State University campuses. In 1997, the university was planned to shut down, with programs phasing out by 2001. Minnesota was spending an unsustainable $25,000 per student at MSU—Akita, five times more than $5,000 per student in the rest of the MnSCU system. In October 1998, the Council for Enhancement of Higher Education in Akita founded. In 1999, MnSCU Chancellor Morris J. Anderson continued negotiations with Japanese officials to try to find a way for the American-style university to continue operations in Japan. The International University Founding and Preparatory Committee was formed in 2002 to prepare for a new university to be founded at the site.

Akita International University's establishment was approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan in November 2003 and the university was inaugurated in April 2004 with Dr. Mineo Nakajima as the founding president. In March 2008, the library building was completed. It was originally known as the AIU Library until it was renamed the Nakajima Library in November 2014 in honor of the university's founding president. The library was designed by Mitsuru Senda and has won awards for its architecture. Dr. Norihiko Suzuki was appointed as the second president in June 2013. In June 2021, Dr. Monte Cassim was appointed as the university's third president.

Akita International University's campus is located in Akita, the capital of Akita Prefecture. The campus is in a rural environment. Bears have been seen on or near the campus and bells are issued to students to prevent bear attacks. It takes 10 minutes at most to walk between places on campus. It's about a 10-minute drive to Akita Airport. Bus services provide connections to Aeon Mall Akita.

Adjacent to the university is Akita Prefectural Central Park, which is equipped with facilities for many sports. The campus is completely smoke-free.

Most of AIU's buildings are connected by indoor walkways, allowing people to easily walk from one building to another during inclement weather.

Most of the university's classrooms are in Buildings B, C, and D. The classrooms in Buildings B and C are primarily for undergraduate classes while Building D is used for graduate classes. Some of the classrooms in Building D are named after companies that donated to the university. Building A houses administrative offices as well as faculty offices.

The Nakajima Library, named after founding president Mineo Nakajima, is open 24/7 every day. The building's interior is made of locally-grown cedar wood and its half-dome shape is inspired by traditional Japanese parasols. It has won a Japan Institute of Architects Award, a Good Design Award, and an International Architecture Award. The library's collection includes over 87,400 physical books, over 490,000 e-book titles, over 4,600 CDs and DVDs, as well as access to databases and journals. Computer labs in the library are open 24/7.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.