Bunka Gakuen has occupied a position of leadership as a mainstay in fashion education in Japan since the founding of the institution in 1923. Now, as our mission, we consider our obligation to fashion as that of generating creative and talented individuals in the industry to assist in establishing a permanently solid foundation for its future.
The future of the fashion industry and the growth of our institution are reliant upon three key areas: Globalization - imparting a superior educational environment suitable for an international society. Innovation - assuming a position of guidance for technical enhancements in the fashion realm. Creativity – providing an educational institution that cultivates exceptional talent while pioneering original methods and novel styles.
Bunka Gakuen is comprised of two major divisions: the Educational Division and the Business Division.
In the Educational Division, Bunka Women’s University offers an excellent model of academic and research functions including a graduate course. The Bunka Fashion College nurtures professional talent in fashion not only domestically but also globally. The Bunka Fashion Graduate University (BFGU), founded in 2006, aspires to develop and encourage fresh and creative individuals to establish Japanese brands in the international fashion markets. Further, our Bunka Institute of Language accepts foreign students from over 20 countries and offers a distinctive Japanese language education.
Bunka Gakuen also includes five attached Research Laboratories, a library, a Costume Museum and a Fashion Resource Center. Within these facilities, we have accumulated a variety of fashion related data and associated materials for enriching educational capabilities as well as disseminating information reliably and consistently.
Additionally, the International Communication Center conducts joint educational projects with affiliated overseas institutions (25 schools in 9 countries) supporting international students as well as students intending to study abroad.
The final sector of our Educational Division is the Intellectual Property Center which exists to protect our original intellectual properties such as patents and new practical designs and/or devices. This portion of our institution collaborates within the industrial, academic and political domains in an effort to generate a greater contribution to society.
The Business Division is comprised of the Bunka Publishing Bureau and the Bunka Business Bureau. The Bunka Publishing Bureau is dedicated to making a substantive contribution to the Japanese fashion industry by providing the latest information concerning the industry through the publication of fashion magazines like So-en, Mrs., High Fashion, etc., and publishing a variety of materials for practical purposes to further educate and support the industry.
The Bunka Business Bureau both develops and markets fashion related educational materials. In addition, it manages the 23-story Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building adjoining the school campus. The revenue from these two enterprises supplies a critical portion of the economic support for the institution’s operation.
As previously stated, the Educational Division actively promotes academic and industrial cooperation as well as collaborating with individuals in other fields and organizations in researching the most suitable technologies and acquiring the most advanced techniques and skills to utilize in our industry.
As a complement to our Educational Division, the Bunka Publication Bureau, besides simply providing the service of collecting and disseminating information of domestic and international information concerning the fashion world, also operates under the notion of a fashion incubator for the industry by synthesizing the data generated from our various divisions’ activities and publishing that information in a way that is beneficial to the exchange of fashion information and encourages the ongoing development of our industry.
Bunka Gakuen’s participation in international activities ranges from a common exchange, both informational and human, between our school and those affiliated institutions overseas, to accepting students from more than 30 several countries in our various departments, to planning and implementing collaborative fashion oriented activities with other cities and countries in the world. Moreover, in 2005, Bunka Gakuen presided over the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI) Annual Meeting and International Conference as the sole Japanese member of the IFFTI.
Bunka Gakuen is dedicated to advancing itself as an International Urban School, with the main campus located in the heart of the busy Shinjuku district in Tokyo and a long standing reputation as an integral element of the international exchange network centered in and around the fashion industry.
