Kitasato Shibasaburo was the Japanese scientist after whom our university was founded. He was an early Japanese microbiologist, who worked with Louis Pasteur and Edward Koch to help develop other vaccines against other dangerous infections at the end of the 19th century. He succeeded in finding the root cause of anthrax and succeeded in creating a vaccine for it that saved both animal and human lives. Later, his heirs and other interested people founded our university and used his name. We have four campus: two in the Tokyo area (Sagamihara is actually in the neighboring prefecture ( half way in size between a county and a state). Here is where all freshmen students must study for their first and final year of general education (liberal arts) and it is also the home of the medical school, school of nursing, school of allied health sciences (such a therapy education, medical technology and laboratory medicine). The School of Natural Sciences is also located on this campus. 
The School of Pharmacy - one of the best known and respected in Japan has its campus closer to downtown Tokyo. This is also where the Kitasato Research Institute is located (sort of patterned after the Pasteur Institute). There is a veterinary and animal sciences campus in Towada, northern part of Honshu; and the last campus is at Sanriku (in Iwate on the Pacific Ocean side) which houses the Fisheries and Marine Management Department.
In addition to the 4 campus, there are also three large university research hospitals -- two at our Sagamihara campus and one in Shirogane, on the same site as the School of Pharmacy. Students in Japan begin both the first college education and also start (in earnest) their professional preparation when they begin the freshmen year at most all Japanese universities.
For example, future doctors, pharmacists and veterinarians, often finish high school in March and then begin 6 long years of limited general studies and loads of courses in their respective majors degrees. So you have to know clearly WHAT you want to become by age 14-15-16 and usually much 
younger. Secondly, there is very little chance of changing your mind because one you enter a college major (after being accepted even before high school graduation), there is little change of deciding differently. Too much time, energy (to pass the very difficult entrance examination in math, sciences and English) and money has been spent to make any change later. The effects are both good and bad.
The story is more complicated than how I have briefly described it, but that is something else I'd like to write about another time. [db]
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