Keiō University, private institution of higher learning located in Tokyo, Japan. The university is part of a larger organization, Keiō Gijuku, that includes elementary and secondary schools in its system.

Keiō was founded as a private school in 1858 by the liberal educator Fukuzawa Yukichi. It acquired the name Keiō in 1868—named for the Japanese historical period (1865–68) that immediately preceded the Meiji Restoration and the start of the Meiji period (1868–1912). It began to function as a college in 1890. Fukuzawa’s original purpose was to create an alternative to the nationalistic and authoritarian government-controlled universities, which were at that time devoted to serving the national interests and training future government leaders rather than to fostering free inquiry. Keiō was not officially recognized by the Ministry of Education as a university until 1920. That allowed it to avoid state supervision and thus to provide a freer academic environment, with greater emphasis on individual development than prevailed at such government schools as Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo). Because opportunities in government service have since the late 19th century been largely confined to graduates of government universities, Keiō has concentrated on studies directed toward work in the private sector, such as business and law, and has produced many leaders in banking and industry.

The university’s main campus, Mita, in Minato ward, was established there in 1871. Other campuses subsequently were built in Tokyo and the nearby cities of Yokohama and Kawasaki, as well as in more-distant locations, such as Ōsaka. Keiō’s undergraduate faculties include those for business and commerce, economics, environment and information studies, law, letters, nursing and medical care, pharmacy, policy management, and science and technology and the school of medicine and several graduate schools. Associated with the university are many research institutions, including the Keiō Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies (founded 1942) at the main campus and the Center for Integrated Medical Research (2001) at the Shinanomachi campus in Shinjuku ward. The university has more than 30,000 students.