"Wasn't It a Women's University?"... Japanese University Makes Bold Move as Men Join Campus

Japan's four-year women's universities down by 32 in 27 years
Falling birthrate shrinks college-age population as women's career paths diversify

Women’s universities with long histories in Japan are one after another becoming coeducational. They are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the women-only university model as the population of school-age children shrinks due to the low birthrate, making it harder to recruit new students; women’s career choices are becoming more diverse; and competition among universities is intensifying.

In Japan, women's universities struggling to recruit students are seeking a way forward by becoming coeducational and changing their names. Nagoya Women's University changed its name to Nagoya Aoi University in 2025 and began admitting male students. As a result, enrollment for the 2026 academic year rose by about 30% compared with 2024, before the transition to coeducation.

On October 9, local time, the Mainichi Shimbun and other Japanese media reported that Heian Jogakuin University in Kyoto plans to become coeducational starting in the 2028 academic year. The university, which began as a girls’ school in Osaka in 1875, will thus change its identity as a women’s university for the first time in 151 years. It will also change its name to Kyoto Regional Co-Creation University (tentative name).

On October 5, Heian Jogakuin Educational Corporation, which operates the university, announced the restructuring plan and cited a decline in enrollment due to the low birthrate as a major factor. The university’s total enrollment fell from 627 in the 2022 academic year to 354 in the 2026 academic year. This represents a 43.5% decline in about four years.

After the restructuring, the university will be reorganized as a single-faculty institution operating only the Faculty of International Tourism at its Kyoto campus. A plan is underway to transfer the Faculty of Child Education at the Takatsuki campus in Osaka to Pacific Rim University, which is operated by another educational corporation. The Faculty of Child Education is also scheduled to become coeducational starting in the 2028 academic year.

Across Japan, women’s universities struggling to recruit students are seeking a way forward by becoming coeducational and changing their names. Mukogawa Women’s University in Hyogo Prefecture has also decided to become coeducational. Known as Japan’s largest women’s university, with about 10,000 students, it plans to admit male and female students to all 13 faculties and 21 departments starting in April 2027 and change its name to Mukogawa University.

Nagoya Women’s University changed its name to Nagoya Aoi University in 2025 and began admitting male students. As a result, enrollment for the 2026 academic year increased by about 30% compared with the 2024 academic year, before the university became coeducational. This is an example of coeducation having a positive effect on student recruitment.

Women’s universities with long histories in Japan are successively transitioning to coeducational institutions. Screenshot from the Heian Women’s University website.

The decline in the number of women’s universities is also clear. According to an analysis by the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI), the number of four-year women’s universities in Japan peaked at 98 in 1998 and then fell to 66 in 2025. Over about 27 years, the total declined by 32, or roughly one-third.

Experts also cite the growing diversity of women’s academic majors and career paths as an important factor. Some analysts say the distinctive advantages of women’s universities have diminished as coeducational universities have expanded employment support and women-centered education, areas that women’s universities once emphasized.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.