Otani University

Ōtani University

Main Gate of Ōtani University
Former names	Shinshū University
Established	1901
Affiliation	Buddhist
Location	Kyoto, Japan
Website	http://www.otani.ac.jp/

Ōtani University (大谷大学, Ōtani Daigaku^?) is a private Buddhist university in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Ōtani University is a coeducation institution with an emphasis on Buddhist studies. A two-year private junior college is associated with the university. The university is associated with the Ōtani School of Jōdo Shinshū, or Shin, school of Buddhism.

Ōtani University traces its origin to the early Edo period (1603 – 1868). It was founded in 1655, and served as the seminary of Higashi Hongan-ji. The shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu founded Higashi Hongan-ji in 1602 by splitting it from Nishi Hongan-ji to diminish the power of Buddhism's Shin sect. The seminary was strengthened and revived in 1755, and developed a broader curriculum throughout the 19th century.

The modern university was founded in 1901 as Shinshū University in Tokyo's Sugamo neighborhood. Shinshū University was closely associated with Kiyozawa Manshi (1863-1903), a Shin Buddhist reformer from a low-ranking samurai background who studied at the University of Tokyo under the American philosopher Ernest Fenollosa (1853 – 1908). Kiyozawa also served as the first dean of the university. In 1904 the university achieved the legal status of senmon gakko, or vocational school.