History
Shirayuri University grew out of an everlasting vision,
a timeless belief that made its way across the borders of language and culture as it moved from France to Japan.
The Convent of St. Paul of Chartres, the organization that founded Shirayuri University, was created in 1696 in Levesville, a small village outside Chartres in France. For over 300 years, the convent has devoted itself to instructing those in need of education and serving the sick and the poor all around the world. The organization is now based in Rome.
The Convent also has a long history in Japan, where they built their branch convent in Hakodate, Hokkaido, in 1878 and a school in Kanda, Tokyo, three years later. These were the seeds of Shirayuri University, which grew and blossomed into a four-year educational institution upon moving to its current location in Chofu, a suburb of Tokyo, in 1965.
Since then, the university has continued to build on its reputation for excellence by enriching its academic curriculum, expanding its educational facilities, and offering small-group education in the spirit of Catholicism.
The history of Shirayuri University
| 1696 | The Convent of St. Paul of Chartres created in Levesville, a small village in France |
|---|---|
| 1727 | First international missionary sisters sent to French Guiana, a colony in South America |
| 1878 | Convent in Hakodate, Hokkaido, established by three French nuns |
| 1881 | School facilities built in Kanda, Tokyo |
| 1898 | School named Girls’ High School of French, English, and Japanese |
| 1910 | School name changed to French-English-Japanese Girls’ High School |
| 1913 | All school facilities burned down in the Great Kanda Fire |
| 1923 | Rebuilt school facilities burned down in the Great Kanto Earthquake |
| 1927 | School operations relocated to new facilities in Kudan (currently the site of Shirayuri Gakuen, headquarters) |
| 1935 | School name changed to Shirayuri Girls’ High School |
| 1946 | Shirayuri Women’s College Department of Japanese Literature established |
| 1947 | Department of English Literature established |
| 1950 | School name changed to Shirayuri Junior College upon the reform of the educational system |
| 1958 | Department of French Literature established |
| 1965 | School relocated to Chōfu (its current location) and a four-year university program established |
| 1978 | Celebration of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of educational facilities in Japan |
| 1983 | Librarian/Teacher Librarian Training Course established |
| 1985 | Department of Children’s Culture established |
| 1988 | Information Science Course established |
| 1989 | Celebration of the 25th anniversary of the University’s founding |
| 1990 | Department of Developmental Psychology and Department of Children’s Literature (Master’s Programs) established in the Graduate School of Liberal Arts |
| 1992 | Department of Developmental Psychology (Doctoral Program) established in the Graduate School of Liberal Arts |
| 1994 | Department of Japanese Language and Literature and Department of French Language and Literature (Master’s Programs) established in the Graduate School of Liberal Arts Department of Japanese Literature, Department of French Literature, and Department of English Literature renamed as the Department of Japanese Language and Literature, Department of French Language and Literature, and Department of English Language and Literature, respectively |
| 1995 | Department of Children’s Literature (Doctoral Program) and Department of English Language and Literature (Master’s Program) established in the Graduate School of Liberal Arts |
| 1996 | Japanese Language Education Minor Program established |
| 1997 | Department of Language and Literature (Doctoral Program) established in the Graduate School of Liberal Arts Department of Developmental Psychology and Children’s Literature/Culture divided into the Division of Children’s Literature/Culture and the Division of Developmental Psychology |
| 1999 | Childcare Worker Training Program established |
| 2001 | Department of Developmental Psychology (Master’s Program) in the Graduate School of Liberal Arts divided into the Developmental Psychology Course and the Clinical Developmental Psychology Course |
| 2005 | Kindergarten/Elementary School Teacher’s License Program established Lifelong Learning Program established |
| 2014 | Megumi-sō, a building on the Shirayuri University campus, named a tangible cultural property |
| 2015 | Celebration of the 50th anniversary of the University’s founding |
| 2016 | Faculty of Human Studies established Academic offerings reorganized into two faculties and six departments |
