Seifuku Gakuen, the educational corporation which operates Tohto University (headquarters: Fukaya City, Saitama Prefecture), held a board meeting and announced that it will stop recruiting students for the Faculty of Dietetics from the 2026 academic year, open a new faculty and department, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Science (tentative name), in 2028, and proceed with considering restructuring the Faculty of Dietetics to continue dietetics education within the new faculty.
According to Tohto University, the school was founded in 2009 as Tohto Medical University after being invited by Fukaya City, and was renamed Tohto University in 2019. In the meantime, it has opened the Makuhari Campus in Mihama Ward, Chiba City, and the Numazu Campus in Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and currently has four faculties.
Of these, the Faculty of Nutrition and Food Science was established at the Fukaya Campus in 2018. Its capacity is 300 students, but as of May 2024, only 5 students are enrolled, which is 44% of the capacity. Tohto University explained the reason for suspending recruitment on its website, stating, "In light of the current situation of a decline in applicants, we are reorganizing the faculty," and it appears that they have concluded that it is difficult to resolve the current situation of a significant drop in enrollment. Transfer admission to the Faculty of Nutrition and Food Science will continue until the 132 academic year.
Currently, the following private universities have courses in training registered dietitians in their agricultural faculties:
Rakuno Gakuen University, School of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (Hokkaido)
●Toyo University, Faculty of Food and Environmental Sciences (Saitama Prefecture)
Tokyo University of Agriculture, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences (Tokyo)
●Chubu University, School of Applied Biology (Aichi Prefecture)
●Ryukoku University Faculty of Agriculture (Shiga Prefecture)
●Setsunan University, Faculty of Agriculture (Osaka Prefecture)
●Kindai University, Faculty of Agriculture (Nara Prefecture)
●Fukuyama University, School of Life Sciences (Hiroshima Prefecture)
