A college of technology is a five-year institute of higher education attended mainly by graduates from junior high schools. Colleges of technology offer intensive courses in specialist technical fields, to equip students with the high level of practical competence and technical skills required in engineering.
There are 58 colleges of technology in Japan (51 national, 3 public and 3 private) and Asahikawa National College of Technology was one of Japan,s first. Since its establishment in 1962, the college has produced highly competent engineers with excellent technical skills, contributing to the development of various industries in Japan. It is therefore highly regarded in a large number of technical fields.
Recent times have seen major social diversification and advances in technology. This means that in addition to high practical competence and technical skills, there is a demand for creative research and development abilities in engineers. To meet this new demand, the college added a two-year advanced course in engineering in 1999, in addition to its standard five-year engineering courses.