Saitama University

The predecessor of the university, Saitama Normal School, was founded in 1873. It was chartered as a national university in 1949 by the merger of Urawa Higher School (浦和高等学校, Urawa Kōtō Gakkō) established 1929,^[8] Saitama Normal School (埼玉師範学校, Saitama Shihan Gakkō), and Saitama Youth Normal School (埼玉青年師範学校, Saitama Seinen Shihan Gakkō) established 1922.^[9]

To provide aspiring overseas students an opportunity to pursue higher education in Japan, International Graduate Program on Civil and Environmental Engineering was launched by the Graduate School of Science and Engineering in 1992. It offers opportunities to highly qualified students from overseas to pursue graduate studies and do research in various disciplines of environmental science and civil engineering. The fields of study include Infrastructure Management, Transportation Planning, Environmental Engineering, Ecological Engineering, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering, Hydraulics and Water Resources Engineering, Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, Concrete and Material Engineering, Structural and Wind Engineering, Earthquake Engineering.

The graduate program includes courses specially designed for international students, in which class instruction and research supervision are given in English and/or Japanese. Master thesis and doctoral dissertation are accepted in English. Japanese language courses are also offered for foreign students and their spouses. So far, 215 students from different countries have graduated from this program and are now engaged in academic and professional activities in different parts of the world.

There are also graduate programs in English in the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences^[10]. In April 2015, Saitama University launched the Department of Japanese and Asian Studies, an English based MA program. The MEcon program in Japanese and Asian Economy and Management was later released. These were designed specifically to attract international students.

In April 2026, Saitama University released a brand new graduate school focusing on diversity studies^[11]. Although its currently limited to MA, it is the first university in Japan to offer a program directly on DEI related topics^[12].

Saitama university's mascot is a sprout named "Merin-chan". Merin-chan is lime green with a light blue star on her chest. Her birthday is November 1 and her hobby is basking in the sun. She's also terrified of ghosts.

Merin-chan was created as part of a contest to select a mascot character for Saitama University’s 60th anniversary^[13]. She was designed to resemble a fresh sprout to reflect Saitama University’s signature lime green color while symbolizing the blossoming and growth of talent. The star recommends the 5 academic schools as well as their radiance.

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  Front of Library
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  Research and Project building
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  View of Saitama University
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  International House 1
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  International House 2
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  International House 3
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  A street
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  Gymnasium