The origins of Sophia University can be traced back to 1549, when St. Francis Xavier, a missionary of the Catholic Order of Jesuits, came to Japan. Impressed by the excellence and intellectual curiosity of the Japanese people, Xavier was inspired to establish a university in the Japanese capital like the University of Paris, where he had studied. Xavier’s desire was to create a university that would promote cultural, ideological, and religious exchange between Europe and Japan. It was this dream that Xavier had in the 16th century that led to the later establishment of Sophia University some 350 years later, in 1908 when three Jesuits arrived in Japan after receiving an order to establish a university from Pope Pius X. The three Jesuits were from Germany, France, and England and well versed not only in Western studies but also in Eastern culture and thought, devoting themselves to the establishment of the university while learning the Japanese language and culture. Country to country, study to study, language to language. The spirit of Sophia University, conceived as a university open to the world, transcending the invisible boundaries drawn between each, and its international character, were established and rooted from the very beginning of the University’s establishment.

Sophia University has exchange agreements with approximately 400 universities and educational institutions in countries and regions around the world, mainly located in Europe and North America. Sophia University not only sends students to its overseas partner institutions but also accepts more than 600 exchange students from these partner institutions every year allowing for active mutual exchange, even among researchers.

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