Originally established in 1874 by missionaries from the Methodist Episcopal Church, it was reconfigured in its current form in 1949 as tertiary component of the Aoyama Gakuin.

The university graduate programs include international management, law and professional accounting.

The university maintains a number of active international exchange programs for students and faculty.

[7] Its graduates rank 8th in Japan in the number of successful passings of the national CPA exam.

The main campus is located in the Shibuya area, and the students are generally viewed as having come from more affluent backgrounds and are regarded as sophisticated.