Kagawa University Agriculture

The Faculty of Agriculture and the Graduate School of Agriculture at Kagawa University

The Faculty of Agriculture and the Graduate School of Agriculture are two entities of Kagawa University, located on the Miki-cho campus in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan.

The Faculty of Agriculture consists of the Department of Applied Biological Science, and aims to foster individuals able to work actively in the fields of biological production and bioscience business. Studying basic knoledge and skills for the production and use of biological resources, undergraduates select one of five courses (Applied Life Science, Bioresource Production Science, Environmental Science, Bioresource and Functional Chemistry, or Food Science) for systematic studies of their majors in the second term of their second year. They focus their studies on their graduation thesis beginning in the second term of their third year.

The Graduate School of Agriculture (master’s course) consists of three divisions: Bioresource Production Science, Applied Bioresource Science and Rare Sugar Science. The new Division of Rare Sugar Science takes an industry-university government collaboration approach that also involves members of the Faculty of Medicine. On the basis of biological science, the Graduate School trains high-level professionals who have expert knowledge and skills regarding the production and use of bioresources. As a member of the United Graduate School (doctoral course) or Agricultural Sciences, Ehime University, the school also develops researchers with high professional abilities in sciences concerning the production and use of bioresources.

Rare Sugar, the “miracle sugar,” created at the Faculty of Agriculture and the Graduate School of Agriculture researchers is a key initiative of Kagawa University. Kagawa University established the world’s first mass production technique for rare sugar and speeded its industrialization. In particular, D-psicose, which is thought to be effective in preventing and improving lifestyle diseases, has been brought to a market in a large number of products and has become a topic of conversation. In the academic year 2014, Kagawa University entered an agreement with Kagawa Prefecture relating to rare sugar research and an endowed chair was created. Through its partnership with Kagawa Prefecture, the university aims to speed up and expand its research in rare sugar related fields and to form an international center for research on rare sugar.

Training Food Safety Specialists who can play an active role on the global stage is another key initiative of the university. The Graduate School of Agriculture’s Career Development Program on Food Safety in Japan for International Students was selected for the International Priority Graduate Programs Advanced Graduate Courses for International Students. In this program from the standpoint of securing “food safety in Japan,” excellent students are selected from universities in Southeast Asia and elsewhere that have exchange with Kagawa University are given the opportunity to systematically and practically acquire the necessary abilities for achieving food safety in cooperation with consortium companies, and they are developed into talented international workers who correctly understand Japanese and Japanese culture and who can become corporate managers with business sense. The goal after they complete the course is for them to get jobs at Japanese companies expanding overseas and in the future to become ambassadors to overseas plants. The program will last five years beginning in October 2014.

Further information can be found here: History • Faculty • Access • Research