1858
Founding, opening, Yukichi Fukuzawa in his 25th calendar year
Black and white photo of Yukichi Fukuzawa
Image of a hanging scroll depicting an anecdote about Yukichi Fukuzawa’s respect for learning even during wartime
1868
The new school building, named “Keio Gijuku,” was completed. After several relocations, a new school building was completed in Shiba Shinsenza (present Hamamatsu-cho, Minato-ku, Tokyo) in the same year, and the school was named “Keio Gijuku” after the Keio Era.
1871
The school moved to Mita. This is where the history of today’s Keio University Mita Campus began.
1890
Department of Political Economy established. A college comprising the three departments of Letters, Political Economy, and Law was established at Keio Gijuku. The Department of Political Economy is the precursor to today’s Faculty of Economics.
Image of three old books by Yukichi Fukuzawa From left to right: On Currency, Popular Economics, On Business
1909
Mita Journal of Economics was founded.
1920
Faculty of Economics founded. The Department of Political Economy became the Faculty of Economics.
Black and white photo of a class at that time
1990
100th anniversary of the Faculty of Economics’ founding. An international symposium was held to mark the occasion.
Photo of the Faculty of Economics 100th Anniversary Symposium
2013
Institute for Economic Studies was established in affiliation to the Faculty of Economics.
2016
PEARL was launched. The first class of PEARL students enrolled in September 2016.
Photo of the entrance ceremony for the first class of PEARL students
2026
Keio University, with 10 faculties and 14 graduate schools, is one of Japan’s leading comprehensive universities, as well as one of the top research universities selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for its Top Global University Project. Within Keio University, this faculty has long been referred to as “Keio’s political economy.”
Not only was it the first faculty of economics in Japan, but it was also the largest single-department economics department in the country in terms of faculty and student numbers. The faculty’s graduates are active in a variety of fields, and their activities extend not only throughout Japan but also around the world.
Photo of the historic building on Keio University’s Mita Campus, the Jukukan-kyoku (Keio Corporate Administration), with the Pen Mark engraved