Japanese women's colleges choose different paths as enrollment shrinks

Facing a shrinking pool of applicants, Japan’s women-only colleges are diverging in strategy. Sugiyama Jogakuen University, rooted in a 1905 sewing school and the only all-women university left in the Tokai region, declared it will remain single-sex, saying such schools foster leadership and counter gendered expectations. Nearby Aichi Shukutoku University became coeducational in 1995, and Kinjo Gakuin University will follow in fiscal 2029.

In western Japan, Kyoto Women’s University also chose to stay women-only after a brief dip in applications, while Kyoto Notre Dame University suspended admissions. Both Sugiyama Jogakuen and Kyoto Women’s are introducing interdisciplinary and new faculty initiatives, including pop-culture studies and data science, to boost enrollment and support women from outside their prefectures.