Chiba University was founded in 1949, unifying several regional former national colleges and schools such as Chiba Medical College and Chiba Normal School. Its fundamental mission since then has been, as encapsulated by the inscription on the University Bell, ad altiora semper (always toward the higher), to equip students with the ability to make mature and informed judgments while nurturing and guiding their creativity. Pursuing these goals of excellence has resulted in Chiba University becoming one of the leading academic research centers of Japan.
Currently, Chiba University consists of nine faculties, the university library, the university hospital and other educational and research facilities. With 11,109 students in the undergraduate program, it has long been one of the largest universities in Japan. As for the graduate school, there are about 2,189 students in ten master's programs and 1,243 in nine doctoral programs.
Chiba University is proud of its productive faculties and varied courses, the particulars of which will be introduced in the following sections. The University's four campuses, Nishi-Chiba, Inohana, Matsudo, and Kashiwa-no-ha are ideally located in Chiba Prefecture, an area noted for its industrial, intellectual and international achievements. In recent decades Chiba has undergone rapid development which in many ways rivals the neighboring Tokyo Metropolis. Many national projects have been based in Chiba Prefecture, and now Chiba has one of the main international transport centers (New Tokyo International Airport Narita) and one of the largest business centers in Japan (Makuhari New Metropolitan Area and Nippon Convention Center). Many new academic and industrial complexes for the advanced sciences (The Kazusa DNA Research Institute) are located in Chiba Prefecture. The developments in Chiba today are representative of tomorrow's Japan. Matters occurring in the most progressive parts of Japan, or even in the world, will provide rich materials for research in various aspects of the human, social, industrial and natural sciences.
