Kwassui Women’s University Profile
Kwassui Gakuin had its origins in 1879, when Ms. Elizabeth Russell and Ms. Jennie Gheer were sent to Nagasaki by the American Methodist Women’s Foreign Missionary Society to be involved in education and Christian mission for Japanese young women. On December 1, 1879, they welcomed one student, and so established Kwassui Girls’ School. The name of Kwassui means “living water” and comes from the Bible verse where Christ Jesus refers to the “living water” which can satisfy the thirst of the human spirit (John 4:10). Kwassui is still seeking to provide a broad education rooted in the Christian spirit in which the school was founded and to raise up students who can be sent out into the world having developed international perspectives. In 1919, Kwassui was officially recognized as Kwassui Women’s College. After World War II, under the new education system, a junior high school and a high school were added. The Ministry of Education gave Kwassui permission for the establishment of a university in 1981, and a graduate school in 1991. Kwassui Women’s University now has a Graduate School (for English Literature and Language); a Faculty of Humanities (Departments of English, Japanese Culture); a Faculty of Music (Departments of Music); a Faculty of Wellness Studies (Departments of Nutritional Health, Department of Design and Science for Human Life, and Department of Child Development and Education); and a Faculty of Nursing established in 2009.