Niigata is a seaport on the north coast of Honshu which was one of five ports opened by the treaty with Commander Perry in 1858 and whose international partner cities today includes ports such as Galveston, Texas, Vladivostok and Hull.
Niigata University of Health and Welfare (NUHW) is a private institution founded in 2001 and is one of eight universities in the Water City.
It started with faculties of medical technology and social welfare, and has, since the start, focused on "quality of life support", dealing with the issues created by an ageing society in a country which already has the world’s highest life expectancy. It also declares an aim to "foster qualified quality of life supporters for the people who need help in health and social welfare services".
Following a reorganisation in 2018 it has about 4,000 students, almost equally divided between men and women, in faculties of rehabilitation, medical technology, health science, nursing, social welfare and healthcare management. In the same year it adopted the STEPS system combining science and art, teamwork and leadership empowerment, problem-solving and self-realisation.
A focus since the start has been interprofessional education, teaching skills across a range of related disciplines. An integrated seminar emphasising such themes was introduced for third and fourth year students in 2008.
NUHW research is typified by a study of chronic lower back and knee pain in middle-aged Japanese men.
Students have played a significant part in the Soratobu Kuramaisi (Flying Wheelchair) programme reconditioning old wheelchairs for poorer Asian countries, while the soccer team caused a regional stir in 2016 by defeating Singapore’s national squad.
