is a private Buddhist university in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. à Âtani University is a coeducation institution with an emphasis on Buddhist studies. A two-year private junior college is associated with the university. The university is associated with the à Âtani School of Jà Âdo Shinshà «, or Shin, school of Buddhism.
à Âtani University traces its origin to the early Edo period (1603 – 1868). It was founded in 1655, and served as the seminary of Higashi Hongan-ji. The shà Âgun Tokugawa Ieyasu founded Higashi Hongan-ji in 1602 by splitting it from Nishi Hongan-ji to diminish the power of Buddhism's Shin sect. The seminary was strengthened and revived in 1755, and developed a broader curriculum throughout the 19th century.
The modern university was founded in 1901 as Shinshà « University in Tokyo's Sugamo neighborhood. Shinshà « University was closely associated with Kiyozawa Manshi (1863âÂÂ1903), a Shin Buddhist reformer from a low-ranking samurai background who studied at the University of Tokyo under the American philosopher Ernest Fenollosa (1853âÂÂ1908). Kiyozawa also served as the first dean of the university. In 1904 the university achieved the legal status of senmon gakkà Â, or vocational school.
Shinshà « University moved from Tokyo to Kyoto in 1911. It had a curriculum of three years of general study, two years of specialized study, and four years of graduate-level study. The university moved to new buildings in the Koyamahigashifusa-chà  neighborhood of Kita-ku in 1913, remains at this location. Shinshà « attained university status in 1922, and was renamed à Âtani University the same year. Under the Education Law of 1947 à Âtani University transitioned to the post-World War II educational system, and was reclassified as a university. à Âtani University Museum opened in 2003.