Meio is a public university with around 2,000 students on Okinawa Island in Japan. Based in the small city of Nago, the institution’s futuristic domed main building is backdropped by mountains and the coast of the East China Sea.
Local government funding was used to set up Meio as a private university in 1994. However, it converted to public status in 2010.
Meio is made up of two schools: The College of International Studies and the Faculty of Human and Health Sciences. Graduate programmes are offered in International Cultural Studies and Nursing.
The university established a centre for Liberal Arts Education in 2011. All students at Meio take liberal arts courses, including those studying nursing and other health sciences.
Okinawa prefecture is made up of a chain of islands, of which Okinawa Island is the largest, and is the southernmost region of Japan. It was the location of a major and bloody battle in 1945 between American and Japanese forces and has hosted a garrison of United States soldiers ever since.
Nago is a small city with a population of about 63,000 located on the northern coast of the centre of Okinawa Island. It is about an hour’s drive from Naha, the region’s capital and location of the nearest major airport. Nago is the proposed site for a new US military base, which has proved controversial among local residents.
The university’s motto is “Peace, Freedom and Progress,” explicitly referring to the military history of its local area.
Meio offers its students the opportunity to study abroad at several different institutions worldwide, including the University of Central Lancashire in the UK and the National Autonomous University in Mexico.
Exercise facilities on campus include an athletics track, rugby and football fields, and a few other multipurpose sports grounds. A new six-storey student hall was completed in 2014.
