Okinawa Christian University achieved university status in 2004. It can trace its origins back to the creation of Okinawa Christian Academy in 1957 and continues to share its campus with the Christian Junior College founded in 1959.
It was the first private higher education institution on the Ryukyu Island, which became part of Japan in 1879 and has since been defined by military events. It has also the only Christian-oriented university in the prefecture.
Seeking to be "a university that serves the community based on the gospel of Christ" it aims to develop talented human resources in order to make Okinawa an "international peace island", it is based in Nishihara, known as "education town" for the presence of several institutions, just outside the island’s capital Naha. Since 2014 it has been a member of the Okinawa Universities Consortium.
The main building on the Nishihara campus, built in 1989, won an Architectural Institute of Japan award. All undergraduates study in the faculty of English communication. It operates on two pillars - core learning which covers basic English and education, and active learning which is about applying those skills.
