Kyoto is a leading city of traditional Japanese culture. With its 1,200-year history, Kyoto is home to 14 World Heritage sites, over 2,000 shrines and temples, and 74 traditional industries, including Nishijin weaving, Kyo Yuzen dyeing, Kiyomizuyaki pottery, and Kyoto cuisine. Its myriad attractions draw large numbers of tourists from all over the world. Kyoto offers the opportunity to learn about these kinds of traditional culture with a hands-on approach. Although close to the city center, Kyoto Institute of Technology is placed at north of the ancient city of Heian-kyo, surrounded by the green foothills of Mt. Hiei and many historical sites,

With many universities and two-year colleges located in Kyoto, it is known as “a city of universities” and “a city of students.” Around 140,000 students live in Kyoto, accounting for a tenth of the city’s population.
As the capital of Japan for hundreds of years, culture and traditional crafts flourished in Kyoto. That rich history and the accumulation of traditional skills have given rise to state-of-the-art technologies, and the city is now home to many companies whose technologies lead the world. It is a city rich with the stimulus of learning.
The city features many student-run activities, such as the Kyoto Student Festival and the Kyoto International Student Film&Video Festival, and many opportunities to interact with students from other institutions. Excellent public transport networks and a low crime rate make Kyoto a popular destination for international students from many countries, and there are a variety of public support programs to assist them.

Kyoto Institute of Technology has only a single school, the School of Science and Technology. This compact school, with just 600-700 students in each year level, is comprised of three academic fields, namely Materials and Life Science, Engineering Design, and Architecture and Design, which are in turn divided into nine programs. These programs range from advanced science and technology areas such as biosciences, materials, electronics, information, mechanics, and environment, to architecture and design. They are engaged in unique educational and research programs that aim to provide practical learning based on the concept of monozukuri or “making things.” No other university in Japan covers such a wide range of fields in a single school. Another of KIT’s strengths, which other, larger universities cannot offer, is its ability to focus on each individual student’s learning.

With its general academic subjects, KIT offers unique educational courses that transcend the boundaries of one’s own academic field. Subjects include cultural heritage such as traditional crafts, the convergence of science and art, sustainable design, and monozukuri internships. Students are also able to take specialist subjects in other fields if they wish to broaden their specialist studies.
Because students studying in a variety of fields are learning side-by-side on a single campus, they can stimulate each other with joint inter-disciplinary projects and extra-curricular activities. It is also a perfect learning environment for international students.

With three times as many faculty members as required under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) criteria for tertiary institutions, KIT has one of the smallest lecturer-to-student ratios of any Japanese university. The careful attention from lecturers made possible by small class sizes, and the close proximity between students and lecturers that only a small university can provide are two of KIT’s greatest strengths.
In the design and architecture programs in particular, KIT has many lecturers who work as architects and designers at the forefront of their professions and who have a wealth of practical experience, having received world-authoritative awards. This gives KIT students the opportunity to receive a high standard of practical instruction.

Kyoto Institute of Technology has international exchange partnership agreements with more than 60 universities around the world, primarily in Asia and Europe, and welcomes more than 330 international students every year. KIT also hosts a range of programs, such as workshops and summer schools, for students from these partner institutions.

KIT offers programs to develop people who will support the preservation and reactivation of Kyoto’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage. These programs include visits to traditional craft studios in Kyoto and hands-on experiences of those crafts, and studying about Japan’s and Kyoto’s administration of cultural preservation.
International and Japanese students from a wide variety of disciplines can visit the studios of traditional crafts (choosing from Yuzen dyeing, Kiyomizuyaki pottery, Kyogawara ceramic roof tiles, Kyo-kabe clay walls, Nishijin brocade and kumihimo cord braiding, ornamental brackets, Kyoto bow and arrow, shirabe-o drum cord, gold-leaf painting, and incense) in groups, and deepen their mutual interaction by debating the convergence of traditional crafts and state-of-the-art technologies.

KIT’s Graduate School offers an International Graduate Program in which students can pursue a master’s or doctoral degree with all instruction in the English language. International students are welcomed into the program, no matter what their level of Japanese-language proficiency. A generous tutoring program and opportunities to learn the basics of the Japanese language are also provided in the program, which is offered in the kind of environment that can only be experienced at KIT. (IGP open only to partner institutions.)

Kyoto Institute of Technology has been appointed as a Top Global University, one of 37 tertiary institutions selected by MEXT to lead the globalization of Japanese society. As such, it often hosts symposiums and public lectures. Students can be inspired at these highly stimulating academic exchange and lecture events, to which leading corporate figures and researchers from Japan and overseas are invited to speak. KIT also hosts many international symposium and public lectures that are conducted in English.

International students who enroll at Kyoto Institute of Technology are partnered with a Japanese student “tutor,” to help them to get a good start on their daily life and studies in Kyoto. The careful and considerate support provided by supervising instructors, student volunteers, and our highly experienced administrative staff will surely make your life as a student in Kyoto a highly rewarding one. Study tours, exchange meetings, and a range of other enjoyable events will help you to make the most of your university life in Japan. We wish you an unforgettable study abroad in Japan at Kyoto Institute of Technology.