The history of Hosei University can be traced back to the establishment of the Tokyo Hogakusha (Tokyo School of Law) in 1880.
In 1883, Dr. Gustave Emile Boissonade of the University of Paris, the Japanese government’s legal advisor, was appointed to serve as director of the school. When the formation of private universities was permitted for the first time under the University Ordinance of 1920, Hosei University was formally established.
The graduate school was established in 1951 with master’s degree programs in the Graduate School of Humanities and the Graduate School of Social Sciences.
Today, a wide variety of graduate schools have been established in traditional disciplines as well as in fields of research aimed at meeting the needs of contemporary society. Highlighting its character as a “graduate school open to the public,” Hosei University launched the first evening doctoral program in Japan in 1995.
Our graduate schools offer education and research suited to various goals, ranging from the cultivation of researchers to the training of advanced professionals and the professional development of working adults.
| 1951 | Master’s programs in philosophy, Japanese literature, and English literature are established within the Graduate School of Humanities, and a master’s program in economics is established within the Graduate School of Social Sciences. |
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| 1952 | A master’s program in national history (evening course) is established within the Graduate School of Humanities and in private law within the Graduate School of Social Sciences. |
| 1953 | A master’s program in geography (evening course) is established within the Graduate School of Humanities.Construction on a new building for graduate schools begins. |
| 1954 | Change in the major title: “National history” to “Japanese history” |
| 1955 | Doctoral programs in philosophy, Japanese literature, English literature, geography, economics, and private law are established. |
| 1956 | A master’s program in politics is established within the Graduate School of Social Sciences. |
| 1958 | A doctoral program in politics is established. |
| 1964 | A master’s program in sociology is established within the Graduate School of Social Sciences. |
| 1965 | The Graduate School of Engineering is established, and master’s programs in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and civil engineering and architecture are established within the Graduate School of Engineering. |
| 1966 | A doctoral program in sociology is established. |
| 1968 | A doctoral program in electrical engineering is established. |
| 1985 | Construction is launched on a building for the Graduate School of Engineering |
| 1986 | A doctoral program in mechanical engineering and doctoral program in civil engineering and architecture are established. |
| 1987 | A master’s program in system engineering is established within the Graduate School of Engineering. |
| 1989 | Doctoral program in system engineering is established. |
| 1991 | Change in the major title: “Private law” to “law” |
| 1992 | Master’s and doctoral programs in business administration are established, separate from the graduate program in economics. A daytime and evening course system is established for the master’s programs in economics and business administration.Construction is launched on a building designated for graduate schools (the Graduate School Building). |
| 1995 | A daytime and evening course system is established for the doctoral program in business administration (the first night course to be offered in Japan for a doctoral program). |
| 1998 | A course for legal professionals is established within the master’s program in law, and the existing course is converted into a research course. A daytime and evening course system is established within the master’s program in politics. |
| 2000 | Master’s and doctoral programs in materials chemistry and information electronics engineering are established within the Graduate School of Engineering.A one-year course for IT professionals is established as part of the master’s program in electrical engineering.A daytime and evening course system is established within all master’s programs in the Graduate School of Humanities. |
| 2001 | Master’s and doctoral programs in policy sciences under the daytime and evening course system are established within the Graduate School of Social Sciences. |
| 2002 | The Graduate School of Social Well-being Studies and the Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences (master’s and doctoral programs in both) are established. |
| 2003 | A master’s program in environmental management is established within the Graduate School of Social Sciences, and the International Japanese Studies Institute is established.A daytime and evening course system is established in the doctoral program in economics in the Graduate School of Social Sciences. |
| 2004 | The Law School, Business School of Innovation Management, graduate program in intercultural communication, and International Japanese Studies Institute (doctoral program) are established. The Graduate School of Social Sciences is restructured to create the Graduate School of Economics (major in economics), the Graduate School of Law (major in law), Graduate School of Politics (major in politics), the Graduate School of Sociology (major in sociology), the Graduate School of Policy Sciences (major in policy sciences), and the Graduate School of Environmental Management (major in environmental management). |
| 2005 | The graduate program in career studies is established within the Graduate School of Business Administration, the graduate program in engineering and design is established within the Graduate School of Engineering and Design, and the Graduate School of Accountancy is established. |
| 2006 | The graduate program in psychology is established in the Graduate School of Humanities.The graduate program in intercultural communication in the Graduate School of Humanities is restructured and incorporated in the Graduate School of Intercultural Communication. |
| 2008 | The Graduate School of Regional Policy Design (major in regional policy design) is established. |
| 2010 | The graduate program in global and Asian politics is established within the Graduate School of Politics.The Graduate School of Engineering and Design and the graduate program in civil engineering and architecture in the Graduate School of Engineering are reorganized to establish the new Graduate School of Engineering and Design with graduate programs in architecture, civil and environmental engineering, and engineering and design.The graduate program in frontier bioscience is established within the Graduate School of Engineering. |
| 2011 | The International Japanese Studies Institute is reorganized and incorporated into the Graduate School of Humanities. Change in the major title: “Japanese history” to “history” (Graduate School of Humanities) |
| 2012 | The four graduate schools—Graduate School of Politics (evening course), Graduate School of Policy Sciences, Graduate School of Environmental Management, and Graduate School of Regional Policy Design (Politics and Administration Program)—are integrated into the Graduate School of Social Governance. A new field of study, botanical medicine, is set within the major in frontier bioscience in the Graduate School of Engineering. |
| 2013 | The Graduate School of Engineering will be reorganized into a Graduate School of Science and Engineering with majors in mechanical engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, applied information engineering, system engineering, applied chemistry, and frontier bioscience. A Graduate School of Career Studies with a major in career studies will be established independent of the Graduate School of Business Administration. |
| 2015 | Institute for Solidarity-based Society is established. |
| 2016 | The graduate program in sustainability is established within the Graduate School of Public Policy and Social Governance. Graduate School of Sports and Health Studies (major in sports and health studies) is established. Institute of Integrated Science and Technology is established as an integrated degree-earning program of the Graduate School of Science and Engineering and Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences. Change in the major title: “system engineering” to “system science and engineering” (Graduate School of Science and Engineering). Changes in the track titles within the graduate program in system science and engineering: “System Control Track” to “Advanced Science Track” and “Management Science Track” to “Management Systems Track.” |
| 2017 | A one-year course is established as part of the master’s program in economics. |
| 2019 | Dual-degree program with Shanghai International Studies University and Hosei Graduate School of Humanities Institute of International Japanese Studies has started. |