Founded in 1949, Otsuma Women's University (大妻女子大学 Ōtsuma-joshi-daigaku) is located near the Imperial Palace (Kokyo) in the heart of Chiyoda, Tokyo. It began as a sewing school opened by Otsuma Kotaka (1884–1970) in 1908. From this grew the Otsuma Girls' High School (1935) and the Otsuma Women's Vocational School (1942).