Kinki University (近畿大学, Kinki daigaku), or Kindai (近大), is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university based in Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan with campuses in five other locations: Nara, Nara; Ōsakasayama, Osaka; Uchita, Wakayama; Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima; and Iizuka, Fukuoka. The word "Kinki" used in the name of the university means "the surrounding area of the capital city (Kyoto)" (see Kansai region). The University dates its foundation to the establishment of Osaka Technical College (大阪専門学校, Ōsaka semmon gakkō) in 1925. Kinki University started in 1949 when the founder college merged with Osaka Science and Engineering University (大阪理工科大学, Ōsaka rikōka daigaku), established in 1943. The first president was Koichi Seko. Initially there were two schools: the School of Engineering and the School of Commerce (now the School of Business and Economics). After the war, when food was in short supply, the university opened its Marine Research Center in 1948 in Shirahama-cho, Wakayama Prefecture. Today it is the Fisheries Laboratory. This was the first time that marine fish farming research was carried out in Japan.