Modeled by its founder Benjamin Franklin on the leading Scottish universities of the time, the University of Pennsylvania was established in 1740, opened the first medical school in the American colonies in 1765, and in 1790 had the first professor of American law. The University's ties with Japan began after the Meiji emperor ascended the throne in 1869, and major educational reforms were instituted in Japan, including the encouragement of international exchanges.
The first student from Japan to pursue and receive a university degree in America arrived in Philadelphia in 1875. Tosui Imadate earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1879, where he was a member of a fraternity. He later became a key member of the Japanese legation in China. The second Japanese student at Penn was Osamu Nagura, who received a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1880.
Japan has been linked with the University of Penn's Wharton School since its founding in 1881 as the first collegiate school of business in the world. Although there were only a total of four students in that first class, the presence of a Japanese student among them established a pattern that has persisted up to the present. That student was Shiro Shiba, and he worked for the Japanese Ambassador to the United States. He came to the US with Ambassador Yanagiya and stayed to earn his undergraduate degree at Wharton. After his return to Japan, Shiba worked for the Minister of Agriculture, was elected to the Japanese Diet, and wrote a 16-volume novel, the opening of which takes place in Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
Starting with Kanazawa University in 1956, the University of Pennsylvania has had exchange arrangements with more than 15 institutions, including Tokyo University and Keio University. Among them is the Kyushu-based International Centre for the Study of East Asian Development which includes Penn faculty members. Currently there are more than 230 students from Japan in the twelve faculties of the University, and over 130 visiting scholars in various disciplines, continuing to provide a vital link between Philadelphia and Japan.
Interested in learning more about the University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia's unique relationship with Japan? Phila-Nipponica: An Historic Guide to Philadelphia & Japan, a bi-lingual collection of articles on the Japan-Philly connection published by the JASGP, is available for purchase in our online store!
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