Sophia University (“Jochi Daigaku” in Japanese) was founded in 1913 by the Jesuits, a Catholic order renowned for excellence in education. From the beginning, the university founders stressed an internationally oriented curriculum and rigorous training in foreign languages. Sophia soon established itself as a leading institution for scholarship on foreign languages and literature in Japan. Today Sophia University is a major teaching and research university in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences with 13,800 students and teaching staff of 1,400 members, embracing over 1,500 international students studying on one campus from 85 countries. This approach yields significant benefits for the University’s programs by deepening educational mobility, collaboration, and specialization. Students can study business and economics, science and technology, and environmental studies, all strengths of Japan, in English as well as Japanese studies that Sophia boasts a long tradition. Variety of disciplines are available in English while the main language of instruction is Japanese (please see “undergraduate” and “graduate” for the medium language of instruction).
Sophia University has been selected as one of 37 universities to receive funding from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for internationalization effort called the “Top Global University Project.”
上智大学（日语称"Jochi Daigaku"）由以卓越教育著称的天主教耶稣会于1913年创立。建校之初，创办者便强调国际化课程设置与严格的外语训练体系。该校迅速崛起为日本外语及文学研究领域的顶尖学府。如今，上智大学已成为涵盖人文、社科及自然科学的重要教学研究型大学，拥有13,800名学生与1,400名教职员工，校园内汇聚了来自85个国家的1,500余名国际学生。这种办学模式通过深化教育流动性、促进跨文化合作与专业细分，为大学发展带来了显著优势。学生可以选择学习商业与经济、科学与技术以及环境研究等日本优势领域的课程，这些均采用英语授课；同时也能研修上智大学拥有悠久传统的日本研究学科。尽管主要教学语言为日语，但学校提供多种英语授课的专业选择。
上智大学被日本文部科学省(MEXT)选为37所获得"超级国际化大学计划"资助的高校之一，该计划旨在推动高等教育国际化。