TWCU since 1918

In 1900, at L'Exposition de Paris, Inazo Nitobe who was an examiner for the expo met Tetsu Yasui who was on the way back to Japan after finishing her study in England.
That was the first time they met, but it was a fateful encounter as Yasui described in a letter to her friend, "We became spiritual friends, like best friends for twenty years."
Ten years later, the plan for the founding of TWCU originated in the World's Missionary Conference held at Edinburgh.

TWCU was established in 1918 with support from Protestant denominations of North America. Inazo Nitobe became the first president, Tetsu Yasui the first dean, and A.K.Reischauer, who worked as one of the founders since 1915, the first Executive Secretary. In a time when higher education was not readily available to women anywhere in Japan, TWCU opened its doors to women and started offering liberal arts education based on Christian principles.

After Inazo Nitobe, Yasui served as the second president of TWCU where she was able to offer ideal education. Yasui cherished TWCU's atmosphere created by Christianity, and she called it "something".
While she had great aspirations, she respected each student's personality. Her faithful and affectional attitude was highly respected.

The Main Building is the centerpiece of the original campus designed by Antonin Raymond, the famous Czech architect and once an assistant to Frank Lloyd Wright. It is one of our seven university buildings listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. The building was used as the library for a long time, and now the Nitobe Historical Center is located on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The TWCU motto, "QUAECUNQUE SUNT VERA" (whatever things are true) (Phil 4:8), is engraved on the façade.

The students who wish may attend worship every morning.
Pipe organ concerts in this chapel are very popular events among the local citizens.

Mure Campus was home to the Junior College from 1966 to 1992 and the College of Culture and Communication from 1988 to 1997.

While cherishing the tradition of nurturing each student, TWCU has evolved to foster our students to become responsible global citizens in the 21st century.