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Faculty of Agriculture

Outline and Features

The Faculty of Agriculture is situated in the Shonai Plain, which is one of Japan's top granaries blessed with rich nature. It is thus best suited for studying agriculture, life and field sciences. The faculty has the Department of Food, Life and Environmental Sciences and the Yamagata Field Science Center, which conduct active education and research to foster people who can solve various problems of the 21st century and tackle the creation of a resources recycling, environmentally friendly society. Students can pursue their study further by advancing to master's and doctor's programs.

Philosophy and Goals

The Department of Food, Life and Environment Sciences conducts active education and research with an eye to developing people equipped with a comprehensive knowledge of food, life and the environment, who can solve problems involving human lives and the environment and work on the creation of a resources-recycling, environmentally friendly society.

We want to welcome students who:

  • Can learn from and think deeply about nature,
  • Are eager to squarely address food, resources and environmental problems facing human society and the elucidation of life phenomena, and
  • Can acquire the basic academic skills in Japanese, English and mathematics as well as natural sciences.

Department of Food, Life and Environmental Sciences

Outline and Features

The Faculty of Agriculture offers one department and 6 courses. The selection of prospective students is done by the Department of Food, Life and Environmental Sciences. In the first year, students study basic education disciplines and a wide range of basic specialty disciplines for knowledge of agriculture in a broad sense on the Kojirakawa Campus in Yamagata City. As they move to the Tsuruoka Campus in the second year, they take one of the six courses, which provide specialty education with respective characteristics and a lot of fieldwork and experiments.

The six courses are outlined below:

Safe and Reliable Agricultural Production

In order to realize stable production of safe agricultural and dairy produce in the local community and developing countries, the course conducts education, including fieldwork, on scientific theories and methods of sustainable and recycling, environmentally friendly agricultural production.

Management of Food, Agriculture and Environment

With the objective of improving food, agriculture, farming villages and the environment, the course offers education on farm management, measures to develop community business, methods for community vitalization, and theories and methods of building a food system that ensures the safety of food and a recycling-oriented social system.

Food and Applied Life Sciences

The course carries out education on food and health, the elucidation and development of functions of higher animals, plants and microorganisms, their application in food, medicine and the environmental industry, and high-level application of biomass and bioenergy, all using the basics of life sciences and biotechnology.

Plant and Bioresrouce Sciences

On the basis of genetic resources science, plant control chemistry and genome science, students study methods to analyze plant functions from such micro aspects as genes, protein and metabolites, and application of plant functions in macro aspects, such as high-level use of plant resources and the development of stress-tolerant plants.

Forest Science

The course provides education incorporating lectures and varied fieldwork on various global environment problems to realize a low carbon society by conserving the biodiversity and promoting sustainable use of resources through the high-level use of forests in order to build a recycling society.

Environmental Science and Technology for Water and Land Use

To realize farming and mountain villages that are in harmony with nature, students study science and technology on land and water use in terms of their relationship with environmental problems. They also undergo practical education, including practical project training, in order to acquire a series of technologies to create farmland and secure, maintain and manage water.