, abbreviated as or , is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university with its main campus in Suita, Osaka, Japan and two sub-campuses in Sakai and Takatsuki, Osaka. Founded as Kansai Law School in 1886, It has been recognized as one of the four leading private universities in western Japan: , along with Kwansei Gakuin University, Doshisha University, and Ritsumeikan University. In 2013, the university was ranked eighth among Japanese private universities for "schools to which parents wish to send their child," and is ranked consistently in the top 10 in other categories as well. The athletic teams at Kansai University are known as the Kaisers and are primarily members of the Kansai Big 6. The Kansai-Kwansei Gakuin rivalry is a college rivalry between two universities located in Kansai, Japan. History Early history of Kansai University Origins The academic traditions of the university reach back to the Hakuensyoin (泊園書院), an Tokugawa shogunate (徳川幕府;1603–1867) school for local citizens founded by Tōgai Fujisawa (藤沢東畡) in 1825. Kansai University was founded as Kansai Law School (關西法律學校, Kansai hōritsu gakko|) in November 1886, in Osaka City, Japan. Its founders were six judicial officers who were in the service of the then Osaka Court of Appeal. 19th century In the early 1870s, the Ministry of Justice established its own law school. Western legal concepts, including that of human rights, were introduced into Japan by distinguished foreign scholars engaged by the Ministry. The founders of Kansai Law School had all studied at this law school, under the French jurist Boissonade de Fontarabie. The idea of individual rights and legal processes independent of central governmental control were new to Japan. Long after the conclusion of their study with Dr. Boissonade, the founders continued to feel that these concepts were vital to the new Japan. They saw it as their duty to popularize jurisprudence to spread throughout the nation two notions: that of an independent judiciary and that of human rights. From this sense of mission sprung the idea of founding a law school. They then sought and received the assistance and cooperation of Kojima Korekata, their superior (and later Chief Justice of Japan's Supreme Court), and Doi Michio, president of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Thus Kansai Law School was the first law school in Osaka. The founders taught that the law belongs to all citizens and, that by means of the law, they can