Kindai University, formerly known in English as Kinki University, is a private university with its main campus in Higashiosaka, in Osaka prefecture, Japan.
KU can trace its origins to the establishment of Osaka Technical College in 1925. It became Kindai University in 1949 when OTC merged with Osaka Science and Engineering University. The first president was Koichi Seko.
The university now offers a wide range of subjects across the educational spectrum, but maintains strengths in its science and business offerings. Kindai University was responsible for some of the first advancements in Japanese fish farming, and established nuclear reactor facilities in the 1960s.
The university works with a number of overseas universities, facilitating both student exchange and academic collaboration. These include Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing Forestry University, Sofia Medical University, the University of Illinois, the University of California, Davis, and the University of Nottingham.
In addition to its Osaka base, Kindai has campuses in five other locations: Nara, in Nara prefecture; Ōsakasayama (also in Osaka); Uchita in Wakayama; Higashihiroshima in Hiroshima; and Iizuka, Fukuoka.
Osaka is a key economic hub in Japan, and a well-known centre for Japanese cuisine and retail markets. Students studying at Kindai can make use of the modern sports and entertainment facilities available on the main university campus. The university also has its own American Football and Baseball teams, as well as a large number of student groups.
Kindai University has produced a number of famous alumni, including athletes such as Olympic swimmers Miki Nakao and Takashi Yamamoto. Many successful sumo wrestlers also attended the university, including Asanosho Hajime, Asanoyama Hideki, Homarefuji Yoshiyuki, Takarafuji Daisuke, and Terunoumi Masato.
