Faculty of Arts and Crafts

This faculty has as its goal the fostering of those who, along with inheriting the rich artistic cultural heritage of Okinawa in areas such as traditional crafts, will create and develop new artistic culture, according to the founding principles and philosophy of the Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts.

Our graduates will obtain a Bachelor's Degree (Fine Arts), and after graduation they are expected to use the knowhow they have acquired as well as their cultural perspective in various fields, whether being as artists or craftspeople in their respective areas, continuing study as graduate students, working as civil servants or teachers, or working in positions within private enterprises related to their field of study.

Also, for those who wish to pursue a teaching position, they will be able to obtain a Lower Secondary School Teaching Certificate Type I (Art) as well as the Upper Secondary School Teaching Certificate Type I (Art, Crafts), after they complete the specific courses that satisfy the requirements of the Teacher's License Act.

Additionally, the students can obtain a curatorial certificate once they complete the requisite courses specified by the curator's program.

"The Kingdom of Ryukyu lies in a splendid place in the South Seas. It embraces close relations with China, Korea, and Japan, and stands within the legendary land of Hōrai emerging among these countries. With its ships, the kingdom serves as a bridge to all nations, and everywhere is filled with foreign treasures and precious goods.”
The passage above is an excerpt from the inscription on the Bridge of Nations Bell that was cast in 1458.

Okinawa, once called Ryukyu, received a variety of arts and cultures through prosperous trade relations with Japan, China, and the various Asian nations, and created its unique artistic traditions by combining those from outside with Okinawan native culture.

We at the Faculty of Arts and Crafts offer five majors: Painting, Sculpture, Art Studies, Design, and Crafts. In each field, we encourage students to specialize in and explore the rich tradition of arts and culture and to express their artistic creativity. In doing so we commit ourselves to nurturing excellent artists and talented individuals who can take on active roles in society. We thus aim to contribute to the overall development of arts and culture.

In November 2022, we signed a “Collaboration Agreement for Technology Inheritance and Human Resource Development in the Restoration of Shuri Castle” with the national government, Okinawa Prefecture, and related organizations. As a community-rooted art university, we are actively engaged in various initiatives to aid in the restoration of Shuri Castle, a site deeply intertwined with Ryukyuan cultural inheritance

I sincerely hope that both students and faculty will embrace the spirit of the Bridge of Nations and disseminate many brilliant arts and crafts from this small university on a southern island to the global community.