is a university on the slopes of Mount Rokkō in Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Japan. A private university with approximately 10,000 students, it offers a wide variety of programs to Japanese students, as well as an international exchange program through the Konan International Exchange Center. History Konan University was founded in 1951. The university traces its origin to 1919 when Konan Gaku-en Middle School was founded in Okamoto, Kobe, Japan. The founder is , 45th Minister of Education in the days of Meiji Constitution, former senior managing director of Tokio Marine Insurance, founder of Co-op Kobe and Konan Hospital (See also List of Japanese politicians). The formation of the school is based on the ideals of character building (personality development), physical fitness, and respect for the individual. Konan University offers undergraduate and graduate programs (Master's and Ph.D.). All programs are accredited by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Campus Konan University has three campuses in Hyogo prefecture, Japan: Okamoto Campus (the main campus), Nishinomiya Campus (Hirao School of Management), and the Port Island Campus (Science, Medicine & Engineering Research). Okamoto Campus is on the eastern edge of Kobe City in Okamoto, a renowned residential area between Osaka and Kobe. Undergraduate education Seven faculties and one school provide undergraduate education. Faculty of Letters (similar to a Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in North American universities) Faculty of Science and Engineering Faculty of Economics Faculty of Law Faculty of Business Administration Faculty of Intelligence and Informatics Faculty of Frontiers of Innovative Research in Science and Technology Hirao School of Management Graduate education Graduate education is provided by five schools. Graduate School of Humanities (Japanese Literature and Language, Applied Sociology, Human Sciences) Graduate School of Natural Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Information Science and Systems Engineering) Graduate School of Social Science (Economics, Management) Graduate School of Law Graduate School of Accounting Academic rankings Overall rankings QS University Rankings: Asia 2013: not included Webometrics Ranking of World Universities 2014: (World Rank) 2,574; (Country Rank) 134 Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, July 2012: (World Rank) 2,553 Top organizations: Rankings on SSRN (Social Science Research Network): Ranked by total new downloads (last updated on 08/01/2014) Konan University - Graduate School of Business and Accounting 885th among the SSRN Top 1,000 Business Schools 570 th among the SSRN Top 1,000 International (Non-U.S.) Business Schools 5th among Business Schools in Japan (①Kobe U., ②Keio U., ③Hitotsubashi U.,