Doshisha University

, also referred to as , is a private university in Kyoto City, Japan. Doshisha University is one of the most prestigious universities in Japan today, with particularly strong influence in the Kansai region, and is considered one of the most selective private universities in Japan. The acceptance rate for the 40,924 applicants for the 2014 academic year was 35.6%, with acceptance rate in some departments under 15%. In 2013, the university was ranked fourth among Japanese private universities for "schools to which parents wish to send their child", following Waseda University, Keio University, Meiji University and eleventh for "hidden prestigious schools that you know", following Waseda University, Keio University, Meiji University and so on. Doshisha University has the highest deviation value as a private university in the Kansai region. Established in 1875, it is one of Japan's oldest private institutions of higher learning, and has approximately 30,000 students enrolled on four different campuses in Kyoto. It is one of the Japanese "Global 30" universities and one university belonging to "Kan-Kan-Do-Rits" (関関同立), a group of the four leading private universities in western Japan's Kansai region also including Kansai University, Kwansei Gakuin University, and Ritsumeikan University. History Doshisha University was founded in 1875 as Doshisha English School by Protestant educator Niijima Jō (新島 襄, also known as Joseph Hardy Neesima), as a school to advance Christian education in Japan. As a young man, Niijima left Japan for the United States in 1864, despite the ban on overseas travel then imposed on Japanese nationals. He studied at Phillips Academy and Amherst College, and returned to Japan in 1874. The next year, Niijima established the Doshisha School. Niijima served as president of the university from 1875 to 1890. Other early university presidents included educator and author Yamamoto Kakuma (1890–1892), Seito Saibara (1899–1902), who was the first Christian member of the Japanese Diet, Kenkichi Kataoka (1902–1904), and prominent chemical engineer Kotaro Shimomura (1904–1907). Tokio Yokoi, Tasuku Harada, and Ebina Danjo were also presidents.