What happened to the "Imabari Veterinary School"? -- For the first time, Chairman Kake speaks about the past eight years and the "next ten years."

Aerial view of Okayama University of Science Okayama Campus

Cultivating One Health professionals in Imabari to connect the region and the world.
What's happening with the establishment of a new veterinary school for the first time in half a century

Before the establishment of our university's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, there were only four national universities in western Japan—Tottori, Yamaguchi, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima—and the public Osaka Prefecture University (now Osaka Metropolitan University)—which offered veterinary medicine-related faculties or departments (*1). Moreover, all of these had small enrollment capacities, so students in western Japan who were considering applying to private universities as well had to look as far as the Kanto region. We believe that creating a new option in Shikoku has, to some extent, met the needs of these students.
(*1) Includes the Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the Joint Department of Veterinary Medicine, the Veterinary Medicine Course, and the Joint Veterinary Medicine Course.Regional distribution of applicants for the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, in the 2026 academic year.

Thanks to everyone's support, the number of applicants has been the highest in the country for the past four years, and in the most recent entrance exam, it exceeded 5,000. Furthermore, the pass rate for the National Veterinary Examination has been 81.9% in 2025 and 78.9% in 2026, and the number of successful candidates in 2026 ranked 4th among the 17 universities with veterinary faculties and departments, with a cumulative total of 258 successful candidates over the past three years, which is a commendable achievement for a newly established institution. What is even more gratifying is that we have received direct feedback from the Imabari City government, the Shikoku administration, agricultural and livestock organizations, the Veterinary Medical Association, school officials, and citizens saying, "We are so glad the university came." There were many difficulties and hardships leading up to the establishment, but seeing students gathering from all over the country and the town thriving makes us realize the significance of its establishment all over again.Mr. Kake, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kake Educational Institution

The remaining challenge is how to cultivate veterinarians who will support local communities and veterinarians who will serve as public servants.

Of course, there are still many challenges. One is that the percentage of veterinarians who graduate and remain in Ehime Prefecture or Shikoku to work in the livestock industry is lower than expected, which was one of our initial goals when the school was established.

In the field of veterinary training, addressing the nationwide shortage of veterinarians who handle livestock such as cattle and horses that support local livestock industries, as well as public servant veterinarians who are responsible for disease prevention at livestock health and hygiene centers and meat hygiene inspection centers, has been a major challenge. On the other hand, many aspiring veterinarians are interested in clinical practice with small animals such as dogs and cats, and there is also the reality of income disparity between veterinarians involved in pet medicine in urban areas or working for private pharmaceutical companies and public servant veterinarians. How can we lower the psychological barrier to working with large livestock for industrial purposes, and how can we help them understand the appeal of working in local communities and the significance of taking on crisis management responsibilities for national and local governments? Since students have the freedom to choose their careers and universities cannot force them to take a particular path, I feel more strongly than ever that steady awareness-raising activities, both before and after enrollment, are necessary.

Okayama University of Science Imabari Campus Building

However, simply doing nothing will not improve the situation. To begin with, we decided to start with what we could do, and in recent years we have been allowed to keep the university's cows, so to speak, "our cows," at a nearby ranch to increase opportunities for students to become familiar with large animals, and we use them in practical training and other activities. Also, the equestrian club at the Imabari campus does not have a riding arena or stables, so students have to travel across the sea to a riding club in Fukuyama. We would like to improve this situation as soon as possible and strive to create an environment where even students who are not members of the equestrian club can interact with horses on a daily basis.

To increase the number of students who remain in the region after graduation, we have established scholarship programs since the school's inception that support students from Shikoku by providing 1 million yen per year and deferring tuition payments for six years (20 recipients per year), as well as a scholarship program for students from the Okayama and Ehime regions. We believe it is necessary to further publicize these programs and expand new measures for the future.

This is something that can only be achieved because it's the first new facility in half a century.

Alongside our graduates' contributions to the local community, one of the goals our university has upheld since its founding is to catch up with the advanced veterinary education in Europe and the United States and to train veterinarians who can compete on a global level.

Over the past half-century, the global standard for veterinary education has undergone significant changes, not only in curriculum but also in facilities and the number of faculty members. In this respect, our university, being the last to establish such a system in Japan, started with the aim of meeting all of these new standards, not just with new buildings and facilities. Specifically, this includes having over 70 full-time faculty members for a student capacity of 140, the largest number per student in Japan; a large-scale "Large Animal Clinical Veterinary Medicine Education Center" and a state-of-the-art "BSL3 (Biosafety Level 3) laboratory"; and in terms of curriculum, the introduction of practical training using large farm animals from the first year and the mandatory implementation of long-term internships at livestock health and hygiene centers and farms (*2).
BSL3 (Biosafety Level 3) Laboratory

In addition, leveraging Imabari's location on the Seto Inland Sea, we are also considering expanding into a new field: the fisheries industry. In recent years, concerns have been raised about changes in ecosystems due to rising sea temperatures and the depletion of fishery resources due to the explosive growth of the world's population. As a result, there is growing interest in areas in which veterinarians can be involved, such as the conservation of fish resources and the expansion of aquaculture.

Furthermore, although this is still in the conceptual stage, we believe that by collaborating with the land-based aquaculture currently being conducted in the Faculty of Life Sciences, which uses a special type of water called "optimal environment water" that allows for the simultaneous cultivation of saltwater and freshwater fish, it may become possible to create a new field of veterinary medicine that connects land and sea, linking veterinary medicine with the fisheries industry and local industries.

"Optimal Environment Water" is a special type of water that allows for the simultaneous keeping of saltwater and freshwater fish.

Imabari offers a calm environment that is ideal for students to concentrate on their studies and research. Here, students can learn a wide range of subjects, from small animal and livestock medicine to border control measures against zoonotic diseases, and even fish health management and disease prevention. Our unwavering mission at Okayama University of Science's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is to cultivate veterinarians who can contribute to both the local community and the world, based on the "One Health" perspective that protects the health of people, animals, and the environment surrounding them as a whole.

(*2) In addition to concluding cooperation agreements with all veterinary associations in the four prefectures of Shikoku and major agricultural mutual aid associations, the organization also concludes comprehensive cooperation agreements with medical universities and other institutions for research on infectious diseases.