The International University of Kagoshima has decided to stop recruiting students for the Department of Music (admission capacity 30 students) in the Faculty of International Culture from 2026 onwards, and has announced that it will establish a new "Music Culture Course" in the Department of International Culture.
The Department of Music in the Faculty of International Culture at the International University of Kagoshima has been inherited from the Department of Music in the Junior College of Kagoshima International University, which was formerly the former Kagoshima Junior College. The newly established "Music Culture Course" will inherit the general framework of the previous educational curriculum along with the academic tradition, and aims to cultivate intercultural understanding and communication skills through a deep understanding of arts and culture, and to train human resources who can contribute to the local community.
The last students admitted to the Department of Music in the Faculty of International Culture will be those enrolled in April 2025, but the department will remain fully prepared until all students have graduated.
There are only a few music departments nationwide that are established outside of university faculties of music or art. In addition to the International University of Kagoshima, there are only four universities with such departments: Miyagi Gakuin Women's University (Faculty of Liberal Arts, Department of Music) in Miyagi Prefecture, Kinjo Gakuin University (Faculty of Letters, Department of Music and Arts) in Aichi Prefecture, Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts (Faculty of Liberal Arts, Department of Music) in Kyoto Prefecture, and Hiroshima Bunka Gakuen University (Faculty of Liberal Arts, Department of Music) in Hiroshima Prefecture.
Looking at the music departments of universities and junior colleges across the country, there have been many cases of suspending admissions or reorganizing into major courses in recent years. Kwassui Women's University's Faculty of Music (Nagasaki Prefecture) has announced that it will stop accepting applications from the 2024 academic year, while Tokoha University Junior College Department of Music (Shizuoka Prefecture) and Shikoku University Junior College Department of Music (Tokushima Prefecture) have announced that they will stop accepting applications from the 2026 academic year.
The Music Department of Fukuoka Women's Junior College (Fukuoka Prefecture) has announced that it will stop accepting applications from the 2025 academic year, but Takagi Gakuen Educational Corporation plans to use the junior college's facilities to open a school called the Fukuoka International College of Music, Faculty of Music (tentative name: application for establishment approval pending) from the 2026 academic year.
