Waseda University

Waseda was founded as Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō (東京専門学校) on October 21, 1882 by samurai scholar and Meiji-era politician and former prime minister Ōkuma Shigenobu. Before the name 'Waseda' was selected, it was known variously as Waseda Gakkō (早稲田学校) or Totsuka Gakkō (戸塚学校?) after the location of the founder's villa in Waseda Village and the school's location in Totsuka Village respectively. It was renamed Waseda University (早稲田大学Waseda-daigaku) on September 2, 1902 upon acquiring university status. It started as a college with three departments under the old Japanese system of higher education. In 1882, the university had the department of political science and economics, law, and physical science. Along with these departments, an English language course was established, where the students of all the departments could learn English. Three years later, the department of physical science was closed because it had too few applicants. The department of science and engineering was established in 1908. The department of literature was established in 1890. Although Waseda formally adopted the term university in its title in 1902 it was not until 1920 that, in common with other Japanese schools and colleges, it received formal Government recognition as a university under the terms of the University Establishment Ordinance.