University of Tokyo

History

Origins

The University of Tokyo traces its roots to three independent institutes founded during the Edo period (1603–1868). The oldest, a Shogun-funded Confucian school called Senseiden, was founded in 1630 by Razan Hayashi in Ueno. This school was renamed the Shoheizaka Institute and came to be operated directly by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1791 as part of the Kansei Reforms. The Tenmongata, founded in 1684, was the astronomical research and education arm of the Shogunate. It evolved into the Kaisei School, a school for Western learnings, after the Meiji Restoration. The Kanda Otamagaike Vaccination Centre, established in 1858, evolved into a school of Western medicine called Tokyo Medical School. Although plans to establish the country's first university had been in place just after the Meiji Restoration, it was not until around 1875 that it was decided to form the university by merging these schools.

Founding and early days

The University of Tokyo was chartered on April 12, 1877, by the Meiji government. Corresponding to the fields covered by the predecessor schools, it started with four faculties: Law, Science, Letters, and Medicine. The Imperial College of Engineering later merged into the university as the Faculty of Engineering. In 1886, the university was renamed Imperial University, and it adopted the name Tokyo Imperial University in 1897 after the founding of the next imperial university, what is now Kyoto University. By 1888, all faculties had completed their relocation to the former site of the Tokyo residence of the Maeda family in Hongo, where they continue to operate today. Among the few extant structures built before this relocation is a gate called Akamon, which has since become a widely recognised symbol of the university.[[File:Kume Matsuoka Akutagawa Naruse.jpg|thumb|UTokyo students ([[Masao Kume|Kume]], Matsuoka, [[Ryūnosuke Akutagawa|Akutagawa]] and [[Seiichi Naruse|Naruse]]), ]]

During its initial two decades as a modern institution, UTokyo benefited from the contributions of European and American scholars. In 1871, the Meiji Government made a decision about the direction of academic disciplines: engineering was to be learnt from the United Kingdom, mathematics, physics, and international law from France, while politics, economics, and medicine were to be guided by German expertise. Additionally, agriculture and commercial law knowledge was to be sourced from the United States. Following this policy, UTokyo and its predecessor institutions sent their graduates to universities in these respective countries and also invited lecturers from them. However, by the 1880s, the Japanese government grew concerned over the spread of French republican and British constitutional monarchist ideals among the faculty and students, and eventually Minister of Education Takato Oki instructed the university to reduce the use of English as a language of instruction, and instead to switch to Japanese. This shift coincided with the return of UTokyo alumni who had completed their education in Europe, and these returnees began filling roles that had been predominantly held by foreign scholars.

Interwar period

The first half of the Interwar period in Japan was characterised by the spread of liberal ideas, collectively known as Taishō Democracy. This movement was ushered in by the concept of Minpon Shugi by Sakuzō Yoshino, as well as Tatsukichi Minobe's interpretation of sovereignty as inherent to the state rather than the monarchy. Both were alumni and professors at the Faculty of Law. As such ideas were came to be accepted widely, prime minister Takaaki Katō, an alumnus of UTokyo, extended suffrage to all males aged 25 and over in 1925, as promised in his manifesto. This liberal tendency was also shared among students, exemplified by the labour movement organisation the UTokyo Association of New People (東大新人会, ) and the UTokyo Settlement (東大セツルメント, ). However, strong reactions against these liberal and socialist ideas also emerged at the university, notably from Shinkichi Uesugi, who mentored and greatly influenced three future prime ministers among his students at UTokyo: Nobusuke Kishi, Eisaku Satō, and Takeo Fukuda.

Great Kanto Earthquake

On September 1, 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake struck the Kanto Plain, inflicting immense damage upon the university. This damage included the complete destruction of almost all main buildings, including the library, as well as the loss of precious scientific and historical samples and data stored in them. This led to a university-wide debate as to whether it should relocate to a larger site, such as Yoyogi, but ultimately, such plans were rejected. Instead, the university purchased additional land in its vicinity, which was still owned by the Maeda family, and expanded there.

The reconstruction of the university and its library was brought up in the fourth general assembly of the League of Nations in September 1923, where it was unanimously decided to provide support. The League is said to have been sympathetic especially because the memory of the destruction of KU Leuven in Belgium during the First World War was still fresh. The American philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. personally donated $2 million (approximately $36 million in 2023). The United Kingdom formed a committee led by former Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, and made substantial financial and cultural contributions. Rockefeller Jr. and Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, a younger son of George V, visited the university in 1929, shortly after the new library was completed. Prince Henry's visit marked the first Great Ball (大園遊会, Dai-Enyukai) in several years, which is now known as the May Festival (五月祭, Gogatsusai). A large portion of the buildings on Hongo Campus today were built during this reconstruction period, and their unique Collegiate Gothic style is known as Uchida Gothic (内田ゴシック) after Yoshikazu Uchida, the architect who designed them.

Another notable change the earthquake brought about at the university was the expansion of its seismology studies. Long having been the only university in the seismically active country, the university was already known for its seismology research, most notably the contributions made by its alumnus and professor, Fusakichi Omori, in quantitatively evaluating the aftershocks of earthquakes (Omori's law) and developing a new type of seismometer capable of recording primary waves. The university set up an independent seismology department in November 1923 to study the mechanism of earthquakes and to better prepare for future seismic events. In 1925, with a government grant, the Earthquake Research Institute was established within the university, and it has been in continuous operation up to today.

World War II

In 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the American bases at Pearl Harbor and joined World War II as an Axis power alongside Germany. By late 1943, as Japan faced significant defeats in the Pacific theatre, a decision was made to enlist university students studying humanities, sending them to battlefields. During the war, 1,652 students and alumni of UTokyo were killed, including those from varied civilian professions such as doctors, engineers, and diplomats, as well as those killed in action. They are commemorated in a memorial erected near the front gate of the Hongo Campus. Most students studying engineering and science remained at university or worked as apprentice engineers, as the knowledge of science and technology was deemed indispensable for the war effort. Leo Esaki, who was a student at the Department of Physics during the war, shared his memory of his university life in 2007: 'The day after the Tokyo Air Raid of 9 March 1945, during which more than 100 thousand citizens were killed, professor Tanaka conducted class as usual, without mentioning the war at all'. The buildings and facilities of UTokyo were largely immune from air raids, allowing education and research activities to continue.

The increased demand brought about by the war for engineers, especially in the fields of aeronautics, machinery, electronics, and shipbuilding, led to the establishment of the Second Faculty of Engineering (第二工学部) at UTokyo in 1942. In the newly built Chiba Campus, around 800 students were enrolled at one time, and military engineering research activities were conducted. It was closed in 1951, and as a successor organisation, the Institute of Industrial Science was established on the site of the former headquarters of the Third Infantry Regiment in Roppongi. During the war, the Imperial Army attempted to use the university's facilities several times, including plans to relocate the university to Sendai and use the Hongo Campus as a fortress for the anticipated Allied landing, Operation Downfall, to protect the Imperial Palace. President Yoshikazu Uchida consistently denied these requests by persuading them of the importance of culture, education and research for the country's long-term development. In September 1945, efforts by Uchida and Shigeru Nambara, Dean of the Faculty of Law, prevented the campus from becoming the Allied Headquarters. Instead, the Dai-Ichi Seimei Building was chosen. Nambara succeeded Uchida as president in December 1945.

Post-war period

During the American occupation era following Japan's defeat in World War II, the university dropped the word 'imperial' from its name and reverted to its original name, University of Tokyo. During this period, under American pressure to remove the role pre-war education was believed to have played in sustaining the class structure, Japan's education system was reformed. President Nambara was appointed as the chairman of the National Educational Reform Committee and implemented these changes. As a result, UTokyo merged with two Higher Schools, which were university preparatory boy's boarding schools. It thus became a four-year university as it is today, instead of three-year as it was before the war, in 1949. One of the higher schools that merged with UTokyo, the First Higher School, became the College of Arts and Sciences. This new college, which was established on the same campus of Komaba as the higher school, took on the responsibility of educating all undergraduates for the first year and a half of their degrees. At the request of SCAP, the Department of Education was separated from the Faculty of Letters to form the Faculty of Education. It was also during this period that UTokyo first opened its doors to female students. The first nineteen female students were matriculated in April 1946.

University of Tokyo Struggles

Main article: 1968–1969 Japanese university protests

The 1960s saw an intensification of student protests across the world, including the Anti-Vietnam War protests and the May 68 events in France. This zeitgeist of the era was prominently felt in Japan as well, symbolised by the 1960 Anpo protests, in which the death of a UTokyo student, Michiko Kamba, caused public outrage. In 1968, the University of Tokyo Struggles began with medical students demanding improvements in internship conditions, in which medical students were forced to work long hours without being paid before being licensed as a doctor.

The conflict intensified with the indefinite strike decision by the students in January 1968 and escalated further following a clash between the students and faculty. Tensions peaked when radicalised students, most of whom were members of the Zenkyōtō (the All-Campus Joint Struggle Committees), occupied Yasuda Auditorium. The university eventually called in riot police in June, which was seen as a move that abandoned university autonomy. Efforts to resolve the situation began with the resignation of university executives and the appointment of Ichiro Kato as interim president, who started negotiations. The conflict largely ended in January 1969 after a full-scale police operation to remove the occupying students. This operation involved more than 8,500 riot police officers confronting students who fought back with Molotov cocktails and marble stones taken from the auditorium's interior. Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, who was an alumnus of UTokyo himself, visited the site the day after the protesters in the auditorium were forcibly removed, and decided to cancel that year's admission process. This led top highschool students to apply reluctantly to other universities such as Kyoto University and Hitotsubashi University, resulting in many applicants who would have been admitted to those universities under normal circumstances failing to gain admission, since applicants are not allowed to apply to multiple prestigious national universities in Japan. The aftermath saw 633 prosecutions, and varied sentences.

21st century

Women's education

The university first admitted female students in 1946. While the student body has remained predominantly male, various attempts have been made to achieve a more equal gender ratio. In 2023, women made up 23 per cent of first-year undergraduates, the highest percentage in the university's history. A quarter of graduate students were female in 2022.

Reforms in the 21st century

When the British magazine Times Higher Education first published its world university rankings in partnership with QS in 2004, the University of Tokyo was ranked 12th in the world. In the 2024 edition of the rankings, it was ranked 29th. QS, now with its own rankings, placed the UTokyo at 28th. As these numbers suggest, there is a widely shared concern that the university is falling behind its counterparts in the world.

UTokyo faces a challenging reality. Japan's long-lasting economic downturn since the 1990s has led to Japanese companies less willing to invest in research and development than before. Additionally, the government's Management Expense Grant (運営費交付金) has been reduced by one per cent annually since 2004. This policy, ostensibly aimed at decreasing the university's reliance on the grant and fostering greater independence, has been blamed as one of the main reasons for the decline in the university's competitiveness.

To address these challenges, UTokyo has implemented a series of reforms. In 2004, the University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC) was established. This venture capital firm supports entrepreneurship arising from UTokyo. In 2006, the first phase of development was completed at Kashiwa Campus. Situated in the suburb of Kashiwa, this research-focused campus spans 405,313 square metres (100 acres) and has a focus on advanced scientific research. In 2010, in an attempt to internationalise and diversify its student body, the university increased its autumn enrollment opportunities for international students. UTokyo plans to increase the proportion of female faculty members to above a quarter by newly creating positions for 300 female lecturers by 2027.

Student life

Admissions

The (東大入試, tōdai nyūshi) is regarded as the most selective in Japan and is almost synonymous with something that is difficult to achieve. To apply, candidates must achieve high scores in the Common Test for University Admissions, a standardised multiple-choice examination. UTokyo applicants are required to take at least seven subjects in this examination. Applicants for natural sciences take two mathematics tests, Japanese (which consists of modern language, classics, and Chinese classics), one foreign language, sciences (two from physics, chemistry, biology, and geology), and one social study subject chosen from geography, Japanese history, or world history. Humanities candidates take two social studies subjects and one science subject instead.

Based on the scores from the Common Test, approximately three times the number of the final admission slots are invited to take the main examination in late February. Based on the idea that regardless of the field of specialisation, all students should have a solid understanding of mathematics and a good command of languages, mathematics, Japanese and one foreign language are compulsory for all applicants. For this examination, science candidates are tested in Advanced Mathematics, English, Japanese, and two science subjects. Humanities candidates take Mathematics, a foreign language, Advanced Japanese, and two social studies subjects (options are geography, Japanese history and world history). UTokyo is also known to be the only university that requires all applicants, including those who wish to study natural sciences, to take a non-multiple-choice Japanese and Chinese classics exam. Some applicants are called upon to take an interview.

Successful candidates are notified in March of the same year and are matriculated in April. The official acceptance rates for undergraduate degrees are relatively high, at around 30 per cent, which is due to the policy of restricting the number of students who can sit for the exam based on the scores from the Common Test. Additionally, Japan's university admission policy does not allow applicants to apply to multiple prestigious national universities, hence non-prospective students tend to switch to other national universities where they are more likely to secure admission.

Junior division

The matriculation ceremony takes place on April 12, the foundation day of the university. All first-year students are matriculated at the College of Arts and Sciences at Komaba, which is a remnant of the time when the Komaba Campus was a separate university-preparatory boarding school called the First Higher School until 1949. There, they spend the first one and a half years of their degrees. All students study a foreign language they have never learnt for at least a year. There is a tradition where the previous year's class (上クラ, uekura) invites the juniors to overnight orientation camps (オリ合宿, ori gasshuku) in early April.

Intense academic competition is common among students in the junior division, as they face matriculation to the senior division (進学選択, shingaku sentaku, or colloquially 進振り, shinfuri) in September of their second year, where they are assigned to departments based on their grades for the first one and a half years at Komaba.

Student housing

Despite its roots as a boarding school, most undergraduates at the university either live with their families at home or in non-university accommodation. Since the closure of the (駒場寮, Komaba-ryō) in August 2001, there has been no on-campus accommodation for domestic students at the university. There are four university dormitories available for undergraduate students: Mitaka, Toshima, Oiwake and Mejirodai. In 2021, approximately five per cent of the undergraduate students lived in one of the university dormitories. The university offers more options for international students, with on-campus dormitories available for them at Komaba and Kashiwa.

Student newspapers and magazines

The Todai Shimbun (東大新聞) is the oldest university newspaper still in operation, with its first issue in 1920. The editing committee of the newspaper has produced multiple central figures in the country's publishing industry. Recruit, a human resources company, spun off from the Todai Shimbun's advertisement branch in 1961. There are several other newer campus newspapers and magazines, the most notable of which is the Kokasha (恒河沙). The Kokasha's start-of-term issues include evaluations of lecturers by students from the previous year, and are widely read by students in the junior division to decide which modules to take at the beginning of terms. Additionally, there are several other relatively new student magazines, such as the biscUiT, the Todai Shimpo and the Komaba Times. Apart from those, student web media such as the UT-base and the UmeeT are widely read by students.

Senior division

After completing the Shingaku Sentaku, second-year students matriculate into senior division departments to specialise in their chosen fields. With the exception of the senior division of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Mathematics, which are located in Komaba, all other senior departments are situated in Hongo. Consequently, approximately 85 per cent of the students start a new chapter of their university life there.[[File:Yasuda hall.jpg|thumb|Yasuda Auditorium, the venue for graduation ceremonies]]

Graduation ceremonies take place towards the end of March. Approximately one-third of the graduates enter the workforce upon graduation, while the remainder continue their studies at graduate schools within the university or at universities abroad. Popular places of employment for UTokyo graduates include the university itself, government ministries, global conglomerates such as Sony and Hitachi, consulting firms such as McKinsey & Company, trading companies such as Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsui Corp, and investment banks.

International education

As of November 1, 2023, the University of Tokyo hosts 5,106 international students, who represent 17.7 per cent of the total student body. Of these, 4,874 are postgraduate students and 460 are undergraduates. Exchange students and postdoctoral researchers are not included in these numbers.

At the undergraduate level, there are mainly three routes for those who have not received their secondary education in Japanese to apply to the University of Tokyo. First, individuals with high Japanese proficiency can apply through the special admissions process for students educated overseas (外国学校卒業学生特別選考). Students admitted via this route study alongside their peers who received secondary education in Japanese. International students who apply via this route sometimes spend a year studying the language at preparatory schools before matriculation. Second, there are undergraduate programmes called PEAK (Programs in English at Komaba), which accept applications based on international qualifications such as the A-level, SAT, and International Baccalaureate. All modules in these programmes are taught in English. However, learning Japanese is mandatory, and those confident in their Japanese ability can take modules taught in Japanese in other departments. Third, the university offers exchange programmes with universities worldwide. There are University-wide Student Exchange Programmes (USTEP) as well as KOMSTEP run by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Starting in Autumn 2027, UTokyo plans to offer a five-year programme called the College of Design. The programme aims to 'redefine design as a broad concept (...) based on interdisciplinary knowledge that integrates the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering and other fields'. Approximately 100 students will be matriculated annually, with half of them coming from overseas.

A wider variety of postgraduate programmes are offered in English, making the international student ratio significantly higher for postgraduate studies (31.32 per cent in November 2023).

Organisation

The University of Tokyo operates under a centralised administrative structure, with key policies set by the administrative council, which is chaired by the president. However, due to the university's historical development as a merger of various institutions, each of the constituent colleges, faculties, and research institutes maintains its own administrative board. Today, the University of Tokyo is organised into 10 faculties and 15 graduate schools.

The leader of the University of Tokyo is known as the president and it is a substantive leadership role. The president is elected by the university's board council from among the faculty members for a term of six years. The current president is Teruo Fujii, a scholar in applied microfluidics, who assumed the role in April 2021 and is expected to serve until March 2027.

Faculties and graduate schools

The University of Tokyo's academic structure consists of 10 faculties and their affiliated graduate schools. This organisational structure was introduced as a result of reforms in the 1990s.

In addition to the graduate schools affiliated with specific faculties, the University of Tokyo also includes two independent graduate institutions: the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies and the Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP). In 2025, UTokyo announced a plan to launch a five-year programme called the College of Design, starting in the autumn of 2027. This would be the first faculty to be established in nearly 70 years, since the founding of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1958. While Japanese local media refer to it as a "faculty (学部)," UTokyo describes it as an integrated five-year programme combining both bachelor's and master's degrees programme, according to the currently announced plans.

Research institutes

Apart from the faculties and graduate schools, the University of Tokyo hosts eleven affiliated research institutes. Simultaneously, they function as educational institutions for the graduate schools.

UTokyo Institutes For Advanced Study (UTIAS)

UTokyo Institutes For Advanced Study (UTIAS) started in January 2011. There are four UTIAS institutes as of November 2023.

University of Tokyo library system

Main article: University of Tokyo Library

The University of Tokyo Library System consists of three comprehensive libraries located on the main campuses—Hongo, Komaba, and Kashiwa—along with 27 other field-specific libraries operated by various faculties and research institutes. As of 2024, the University of Tokyo library has a collection of over 10 million books and numerous materials of historical importance. This collection ranks it as the second-largest library in Japan, surpassed only by the National Diet Library, which holds a collection of approximately 46.8 million books. It also subscribes to about 170,000 journals.

The headquarters of the library is situated in the General Library at Hongo, which underwent thorough renovation in the late 2010s. It now features a 46-metre-deep automated underground storage capable of housing approximately 3 million books.

University of Tokyo Hospital

Main article: University of Tokyo Hospital

The University of Tokyo Hospital is an academic health science centre operated by the Faculty of Medicine. The hospital finds its roots in the Kanda Otamagaike Vaccination Centre, established in 1858. It has 37 clinical examination rooms for a wide range of specialisations including Cardiovascular Medicine and Orthopaedic Surgery, among others. With a capacity of 1,210 beds, the hospital facilitated medical services for 389,830 inpatients and 794,454 outpatients in the fiscal year 2010. Newsweek's World's Best Hospitals 2023 ranks it 17th in the world, 2nd in Asia, and 1st in Japan. It serves as the primary hospital for the Imperial Family of Japan, with both the current emperor and the emperor emeritus having undergone major operations there.

Museums

The University of Tokyo operates eight museums, three of which fall under the purview of the University Museum (UMUT). File:Bronze Horus Intermediatheque.jpg|An Egyptian Horus sculpture File:The University Museum, The University of Tokyo P3097606.jpg|UMUT File:The University Museum, The University of Tokyo P3097665.jpg|Exhibition in UMUT File:Ogawa 1900 geology museum.jpg|The University Museum, c. 1900 File:Nikko Botanical Garden, Japan - 1.jpg|Nikko Botanical Garden

Apart from the aforementioned museums, the University of Tokyo operates several other public facilities, the most notable of which are two botanical gardens managed by the Faculty of Science: Koishikawa and Nikko.

Finances

In 2021-2022, the university had an income of 264.1 billion yen. Of this, 93.4 billion yen (35.1%) was funded by the government, primarily through the Expense Management Grant (運営費交付金). Despite being a national university, this grant from the government has been consistently reduced, dropping from 95.5 billion yen in 2005 to 79.9 billion yen in 2022. A total of 81.2 billion yen (30.5%) was self-earned, through sources such as the university hospitals (54.7 billion yen) and academic fees (16.6 billion yen). The remainder, 91.7 billion yen (34.4%), came from external funding, such as research grants and endowments. Although research grants are primarily earned by research groups and not by the university, the university can typically claim up to 30% of them for university operations, which is included in this number.

The total assets of the university are valued at 1.47 trillion yen as of March 31, 2024. Land holdings make up the largest percentage of this figure, valued at 878 billion yen. UTokyo's endowment fund is relatively small, at 44 billion yen as of March 2023. This is because national universities in Japan, including UTokyo, were not allowed to invest in high-risk assets until 2018, so endowments were spent rather than invested until that point. The UTokyo Foundation is the primary fundraising arm of the university, and it accepts both endowments for the university as a whole and purpose-specific donations.

UTokyo's tuition fees have been fixed at 535,000 yen annually for undergraduates and master's students since 2005, regardless of their status (whether domestic or international). This makes up approximately 5% of the university's income. However, the decline in government funding and the university's international standing have brought about discussions on whether to raise these fees.

Notable research

Since its foundation in 1877, the University of Tokyo has been involved in a wide range of research across various disciplines. Below is a selection of recognised research efforts conducted by individuals and teams affiliated with the university during their work.

• [[File:ItoIntegralWienerProcess.svg|thumb|Ito Integral (blue) of a Brownian motion (red)|213x213px]]In 1904, Hantaro Nagaoka, an alumnus and professor in the Department of Physics, devised the Saturnian model of the atom. Contrasting with J. J. Thomson's then-popular plum pudding model, Nagaoka's model proposed an atomic structure with a heavy nucleus at the centre and electrons revolving around it. Although this model assumed a far larger nucleus than in reality, it inspired Ernest Rutherford's Rutherford model.
• Teiji Takagi, an alumnus and professor of the Department of Mathematics, proved the Takagi existence theorem in the 1910s. Alongside significant contributions to algebraic number theory, he also introduced the Blancmange curve, a well-known example of a self-affine curve.
• In 1951, Kiyoshi Ito, as a doctoral student in the Department of Mathematics, pioneered the theory of stochastic integration and stochastic differential equations, now known as Itô calculus. This theory is best known for its application in mathematical finance, namely in the Black–Scholes equation for option values.
• [[File:Ohsumi.jpg|thumb|212x212px|Japan's first satellite, [[Ohsumi (satellite)|Ohsumi]]]]On February 11, 1970, a team at the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science of the University of Tokyo succeeded in launching the country's first satellite, Ohsumi, making the country the fourth nation in the world to have the capability to send objects into orbit with their own launch vehicles. The satellite was carried on a Lambda 4S rocket, a joint project by the Institute of Industrial Science at the university and Nissan. The second satellite of the country, Tansei, was named after the school colour of the university (light blue). The institute left the purview of the university as part of a government-led project in the 1980s and eventually formed JAXA, but it still operates in close liaison with the university.
• Yoshinori Ohsumi made a breakthrough in the study of autophagy, a process for cellular waste management and recycling, when he was a professor at the College of Arts and Sciences at the university. Using yeast for his experiments, Ohsumi identified key genes involved in autophagy, shedding light on how cells respond to stress such as malnutrition and infections, and linking the process to various diseases including cancer. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2016 'for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy'.

• On February 23, 1987, the Kamioka Nucleon Decay Experiment observatory, part of the Department of Physics, detected cosmic neutrinos for the first time in human history. This discovery significantly contributed to proving that the sun's energy is generated from hydrogen atoms combining into helium(proton-proton reaction chain). Masatoshi Koshiba, leader of this research group, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002. In 1998, an expanded version of this neutrino observatory (Super-Kamiokande) detected neutrino oscillation, demonstrating that the 'lepton flavour' of neutrinos changes. This discovery, proving that neutrinos have mass, led to Takaaki Kajita receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2015. As the successor to Super-Kamiokande, Hyper-Kamiokande is currently under construction, with the operation's start planned for 2027.

Academic rankings and reputation

Due to its age and its academic and social status, the University of Tokyo is considered to be the most prestigious university in Japan, and reflecting this, its admission process for undergraduate degrees is regarded as the most selective in the country.

• The Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked UTokyo 26th in the world in 2025 (1st in Japan). Its subject rankings ranked UTokyo 1st in the country for all subjects it covers. The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2023 ranked UTokyo 10th in the world (1st in Japan, 2nd in Asia). In 2017, its Alma Mater Index, which measures universities around the world by the number of CEOs of Fortune Global 500 companies among their alumni, ranked UTokyo 16th in the world.
• The QS World University Rankings ranked UTokyo 32nd in the world in 2024 (1st in Japan). Its subject rankings ranked UTokyo 1st in Japan for all academic disciplines the university covers except for Classics and Ancient History, for which KyotoU was recognised as the best. The university was ranked 11th in the world for Natural Sciences, 18th for Engineering and Technology, 35th for Social Sciences & Management, and 32nd for Arts and Humanities.

• UTokyo has consistently been the largest recipient of the KAKENHI Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Japan's largest national research grant) in the country. In FY2022, it alone received approximately 10 percent of the total grants awarded to 1,370 institutions across Japan.
• In 2023, Newsweek recognised the University of Tokyo Hospital as the 17th best hospital in the world (2nd in Asia after Singapore General Hospital, 1st in Japan).

Subject rankings

Sites

Apart from the three main campuses, the University of Tokyo operates a large number of other campuses and facilities globally. The university's land holdings in Japan amount to 326 square kilometres. As of 31 March 2023, the university's real estate holdings are valued at 1.14 trillion yen.

Hongo campus

Main article: Hongō campus

The Hongo campus has been the university's centre since 1884, when the university's administration office relocated to the site. The campus faces Shinobazu Pond in Ueno Park to the east and has in its vicinity the electric district Akihabara, the city's bookshop hub, Jimbōchō, and the city's largest indoor stadium, Tokyo Dome. The campus is served by three Tokyo Metro stations: Hongo-sanchome, Todai-mae, and Nezu. It occupies the former estate of the Maeda family, Edo period feudal lords of Kaga Province. One of the university's best known landmarks, Akamon (the Red Gate), is a relic of this era. The symbol of the university is the ginkgo leaf, from the trees found throughout the area. The Hongo campus also hosts UTokyo's annual May Festival.

File:東京大学総合図書館外観.jpg|General Library File:Faculty of Medicine Building 2, the University of Tokyo.jpg|Faculty of Medicine Building 2 File:Faculty of Law & Letters Bldg1 Tokyo University 2010.jpg|Building one, Shared by the Faculties of Law and Letters File:University of Tokyo - university hospital.JPG|University Hospital File:Wongwt 東京大學 (16663967103).jpg|Engineering Building 3 File:東京大学理学部化学東館.jpg|Chemistry East Building

Komaba Campus

Main article: Komaba Campus, University of Tokyo

The Komaba Campus, serving as the educational hub for the first two years of undergraduate studies, provides general education to around 6,000 first and second year students. The campus, also home to the Graduate Schools of Arts, Sciences, and Mathematical Sciences, has advanced research facilities. It also provides specialised education for about 450 senior division undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences and 1,400 graduate students across various disciplines. It is served by Komaba-Todaimae Station on the Keio Inokashira line, which is directly connected to the main gate of the campus.

File:University of Tokyo - Komaba Campus - Building 1.JPG|Komaba Campus Building 1 File:Tokyo University - Komaba campus - Main Auditorium.jpg|Auditorium 900 File:Southern Complex.jpg|Main Refectory File:Komaba Research Campus (Evening) color.jpg|link=|The Institute of Industrial Science File:Research Center-2.jpg|link=|Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology File:CAMPUS PLAZA, Komaba Campus, University of Tokyo.jpg|Campus Plaza

Kashiwa Campus

Main article: Kashiwa Campus, University of Tokyo

The Kashiwa Campus specialises in postgraduate education and research. It houses the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences along with advanced research institutes such as the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, the Institute for Solid State Physics, the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, and the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, equipped with extensive facilities and services. File:The University of Tokyo.JPG|link=|The Kashiwa Campus is built on 100 acres of land. File:Kashiwa canpus, University of Tokyo.jpg|link=|The institute for Cosmic Ray Research (ICRR), Kasiwa File:Test line at the Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo.jpg|link=|A test track for the new generation of railway technology runs across the campus. File:Tokyo Metro 01-630 in Tokyo University.jpg|link=|A former Tokyo Metro series 01 coach is used as a railway technology testbed. File:University of Tokyo Kashiwa campus II.JPG|link=|The Kashiwa II Campus (20 acres) houses accommodation and athletic facilities for the students and faculty of the Kashiwa Campus.

Shirokanedai Campus

The relatively small Shirokanedai Campus hosts the Institute of Medical Science, which is entirely dedicated to postgraduate studies. The institute was originally established by Shibasaburo Kitasato and moved to the current site in Shirokanedai, Minato in 1906. The campus is focused on genome research, including among its research groups the Human Genome Center, which has at its disposal the largest supercomputer in the field. The main building of the building was designed by Yoshikazu Uchida in a style matching that of the adjacent Institute of Public Health, which is now opened to the public as Minato Local History Museum.

Other sites

File:Bunkyou Koishikawa Botanical Japanese Garden 1 (1).JPG|Koishikawa Botanical Garden, Tokyo File:Norikura Solar Observatory、乗鞍コロナ観測所、8128356.JPG|Norikura Solar Observatory File:TokyoDaigakuKemigawaSougoUndojo20110809.jpg|Kemigawa Athletic Ground, Chiba File:In-construction KAGRA gravitational-wave detector.jpg|KAGRA gravitational wave telescope, Gifu File:Yamanaka Seminar House, University of Tokyo.jpg|Yamanaka Seminar House, Yamanashi File:The moon high above Cerro Chajnantor at sunset.jpg|Atacama Observatory, Mount Chajnator, Chile File:Kemigawa Seminar House, the University of Tokyo.jpg|Kemigawa Seminar House, Chiba File:US Navy 110315-N-5503T-307 An aerial view of damage to Otsuchi, Japan, after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated the area in northern Japan.jpg|Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, Iwate, after the Tsunami of 11 March 2011 File:Nikko Botanical Gardens, the University of Tokyo.JPG|Nikko Botanical Garden, Tochigi File:Tokoro archaeological centre, University of Tokyo, Hokkaido.jpg|Tokoro Archaeological Centre, Tokoro, Hokkaido

Notable alumni

Main article: List of University of Tokyo people

Throughout its history as a modern university since 1877, a considerable number of UTokyo alumni have attained prominence in various fields, both academic and otherwise. As of 2024, UTokyo's alumni and faculty include 17 of Japan's 64 prime ministers, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, five astronauts, and a Fields Medalist. Additionally, UTokyo alumni have founded some of Japan's largest companies, such as Toyota and Hitachi. UTokyo alumni also hold chief executive positions in approximately a quarter of the Nikkei 225 companies (47 in 2014), a fifth of the total seats in the National Diet (139 out of 713 in 2023), more than half of the prefectural governorships (27 out of 47 in 2023), and about two thirds of the justiceships at the Supreme Court of Japan (11 out of 15 in 2024).

Of the 20 Nobel Prize winners affiliated with UTokyo in some way, a total of twelve have earned degrees from the institution, with prizes won in five of the six categories, except for economics. This is the largest number among all universities in Asia. However, when including other affiliates such as non-alumnus faculty members, the total number is on a par with Kyoto University. The remainder consists of: Hideki Yukawa (Physics, 1949), who served as a professor from 1942 for a few years; Charles H. Townes (Physics, 1964), who was a visiting scholar for two years in the 1950s; Wolfgang Paul (Physics, 1989), who was a visiting lecturer in 1978; Anthony James Leggett (Physics, 2003), who was a visiting professor for two years beginning in 1972; Gérard Mourou, who was a visiting professor in 1994; Tasuku Honjo (Physiology or Medicine, 2018), who was an assistant professor for six years beginning in 1974; Harry Markowitz (Economics, 1990) and Leonid Hurwicz (Economics, 2007), both of whom served as visiting professors.

Law and politics

File:Takaaki Kato suit.jpg|Earl Takaaki Kato File:Osachi Hamaguchi posing cropped.jpg|Osachi Hamaguchi File:Shigeru Yoshida suit.jpg|Shigeru Yoshida File:Hatoyama Ichirō.jpg|Ichirō Hatoyama File:Eisaku Sato cropped 1 Eisaku Sato 19641109.jpg|Eisaku Sato File:Yasuhiro Nakasone 19821127.jpg|Yasuhiro Nakasone File:Kiichi Miyazawa cropped 2 Kiichi Miyazawa 19911105.jpg|Kiichi Miyazawa File:Yukio Hatoyama 20070824.jpg|Yukio Hatoyama The University of Tokyo has educated eighteen prime ministers of Japan: Takashi Hara (dropped out), Earl Takaaki Katō (Law, 1881), Baron Reijirō Wakatsuki (Law, 1892), Osachi Hamaguchi (Law, 1895), Kōki Hirota (Law, 1905), Duke Fumimaro Konoe (Letters, dropped out), Baron Hiranuma Kiichirō (Law, 1888), Baron Kijūrō Shidehara (Law, 1895), Shigeru Yoshida (Law, 1906), Tetsu Katayama (Law, 1912), Hitoshi Ashida (Law, 1912), Ichirō Hatoyama (Law, 1907), Nobusuke Kishi (Law, 1920), Eisaku Satō (Law, 1924), Takeo Fukuda (Law, 1929), Yasuhiro Nakasone (Law, 1941), Kiichi Miyazawa (Law, 1941), Yukio Hatoyama (Engineering, 1969). Eisaku Satō received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974, for his commitment to halting the spread of nuclear arms.

UTokyo has produced numerous other influential politicians since its establishment. As of December 2023, UTokyo alumni hold 139 seats in the National Diet (the national legislature of Japan), accounting for about a fifth of the total seats. Six members of the cabinet are UTokyo alumni, including the Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yoshimasa Hayashi; Internal Affairs: Takeaki Matsumoto; Justice: Ryuji Koizumi; Foreign Affairs: Yoko Kamikawa; Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology: Masahito Moriyama; and Economy, Trade and Industry: Ken Saito. As of April 2023, 27 out of the 47 incumbent governors of Japanese prefectures have received their undergraduate education at UTokyo.

UTokyo has produced a large number of distinguished jurists, judges and lawyers. As of February 2024, eleven out of the fifteen incumbent justices of the Supreme Court are UTokyo alumni. The university is also the alma mater of all four Japanese judges of the International Court of Justice: Kōtarō Tanaka, Shigeru Oda, Hisashi Owada and Yuji Iwasawa. Tomoko Akane has served as the president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since March 2024.

Sciences, engineering and mathematics

File:Kodaira Kunihiko.jpg|Kunihiko Kodaira File:Masatoshi Koshiba 2002.jpg|Masatoshi Koshiba File:Nobel Laureates 7428 (30679389523) (cropped).jpg|Yoshinori Ohsumi File:Kenzo Tange 1981.jpg|Kenzo Tange File:YoichiroNambu.jpg|Yoichiro Nambu File:Kiyoshi Ito cropped 3 Kiyosi Ito.jpg|Kiyoshi Ito File:Teiji Takagi photographed by Ken Domon.jpg|Teiji Takagi File:Nobel Prize 2010-Press Conference KVA-DSC 7398.jpg|Ei-ichi Negishi Nine Nobel-awarded scientists have earned degrees from UTokyo: six in physics (Leo Esaki, Masatoshi Koshiba, Shin'ichirō Tomonaga, Yoichiro Nambu, Takaaki Kajita and Syukuro Manabe), one in chemistry (Ei-ichi Negishi) and two in Physiology or Medicine (Yoshinori Ohsumi and Satoshi Ōmura). Additionally, Kunihiko Kodaira won a Fields Medal, Masaki Kashiwara won a Abel Prize, both often called the 'Nobel Prize for mathematics'. Four architects educated at the Faculty of Engineering have received the Pritzker Architecture Prize: Kenzo Tange, Arata Isozaki, Toyo Ito and Fumihiko Maki.

Other notable UTokyo-educated scientists, engineers, and mathematicians include Kiyoshi Ito, known for his work in probability theory; Hantaro Nagaoka, a pioneer in atomic theory; Yoshio Nishina, who made significant contributions to particle physics; and Teiji Takagi, known for his work in number theory. Yoji Totsuka was an influential figure in neutrino physics. Kikunae Ikeda is credited with discovering umami. Kitasato Shibasaburō discovered the infectious agent of bubonic plague, and Kazuhiko Nishijima contributed to the discovery of the Gell-Mann–Nishijima formula. Hirotugu Akaike developed the Akaike Information Criterion, and Hideo Shima was the chief engineer behind the development of the Shinkansen bullet train. Yuzuru Hiraga was the chief engineer at the Imperial Japanese Navy, then the third-strongest in the world, and Takamine Jōkichi was the first to isolate adrenaline. Akira Fujishima discovered the photocatalytic properties of titanium dioxide, and Tosio Kato made notable contributions to functional analysis. Kenkichi Iwasawa is known for his influence on algebraic number theory. Shun'ichi Amari invented and formulated the recurrent neural network (RNN) for learning.

Business, economics and finance

File:Kiichiro Toyoda.jpg|Kiichiro Toyoda, founder of Toyota File:Namihei Odaira Portrait c1910.png|Namihei Odaira, founder of Hitachi File:Iwasaki Koyata.jpg|Baron Koyata Iwasaki, longest-serving head of Mitsubishi File:Aikawa Yosuke.jpg|Yoshisuke Ayukawa, founder of the Nissan Group File:Keizo Shibusawa.jpg|Viscount Keizo Shibusawa, governor of BoJ File:Kazuo Ueda 20230410meeting01.jpg|Kazuo Ueda, governor of BoJ since 2023 File:Hirofumi Uzawa.jpg|Hirofumi Uzawa, mathematical economist File:Nobuhiro Kiyotaki cropped 1 Nobuhiro Kiyotaki 202011.jpg|Nobuhiro Kiyotaki, New Keynesian economist Kiichiro Toyoda, an alumnus of the Faculty of Engineering, founded Toyota Motor, the largest car manufacturer in the world and the largest company in Japan by both market capitalisation and revenue. Namihei Odaira, also an alumnus of the Faculty of Engineering, founded Hitachi, one of the largest electronics conglomerates in the world. Another UTokyo-educated engineer, Yoshisuke Ayukawa, founded the Nissan Group (zaibatsu), from which some of Japan's largest companies, such as Nissan, Isuzu, NEC, and SOMPO Holdings, spun off. Baron Koyata Iwasaki, a member of the founding Iwasaki family of Mitsubishi, was the longest-serving and last head of the group before it was split up by order of the Allied Occupation Forces after the Second World War. Under his leadership, the group's business evolved significantly, and he founded companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nikon. Hiromasa Ezoe, as an educational psychology student at UTokyo in 1961, established Recruit Holdings, the largest human resources company in Japan, which also runs worldwide businesses including Indeed and Glassdoor. UTokyo alumni have held chief executive positions at numerous influential Japanese companies; as of April 2024, companies under the leadership of a UTokyo alumnus include Sony (Kenichiro Yoshida), MUFG (Hironori Kamezawa) and Mitsubishi Corp (Katsuya Nakanishi [ja]). More than half of the governors of the Bank of Japan, the central bank of Japan, have been UTokyo alumni, including the incumbent governor Kazuo Ueda, who previously taught at UTokyo.

Literature, arts and humanities

File:Natsume Soseki photo.jpg|Soseki Natsume File:Akutagawa Ryunosuke.jpg|Ryunosuke Akutagawa File:Junichiro Tanizaki 01.jpg|Junichiro Tanizaki File:Osamu Dazai.jpg|Osamu Dazai File:Yukio Mishima 2.jpg|Yukio Mishima File:Kinema-Junpo-1967-January-Special-3.jpg|Kobo Abe File:Yasunari Kawabata 1968 cropped2.jpg|Yasunari Kawabata File:K oe.jpg|Kenzaburo Oe Many notable literary figures have attended the University of Tokyo, two of whom received the Nobel Prize in Literature: Yasunari Kawabata (Known for The Dancing Girl of Izu, Snow Country and The Old Capital) and Kenzaburo Oe (A Personal Matter, The Silent Cry and Death by Water). Other notable UTokyo-educated writers include: Soseki Natsume (I Am a Cat, Botchan, Sanshiro and Kokoro), Ōgai Mori, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Junichiro Tanizaki, Naoya Shiga, Osamu Dazai, Yukio Mishima, Kobo Abe, Shōyō Tsubouchi, Shinichi Hoshi, Kōyō Ozaki, Jun Takami, Motojiro Kaijii, Shūichi Katō, Kunio Kishida, Hideo Kobayashi, Shigeharu Nakano, Hyakken Uchida, Makoto Oda, Tatsuo Hori, Mari Yonehara and Atsushi Nakajima. Shiki Masaoka is known as the initiator of modern haiku poetry and one of the most celebrated poets in Japanese history. Other notable UTokyo-educated poets include Mokichi Saito, Nobutsuna Sasaki, Makoto Ōoka, Hōsai Ozaki, Saneatsu Mushanokōji and Tatsuji Miyoshi.

Isao Takahata co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki and directed animation films including Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko, and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Together with Miyazaki, he created animation films such as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Yoji Yamada directed the film series Otoko wa Tsurai yo and the Samurai Trilogy (The Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade and Love and Honor). Koichi Sugiyama is known for composing the music for Dragon Quest, along with several other famous video games, anime, films, television shows, and pop songs. Wowaka is considered to be a pioneer in the vocaloid music industry, especially Hatsune Miku. Kunio Yanagita made significant contributions to the preservation and studies of Japanese folklore. Yanagi Sōetsu initiated the mingei (folk craft) movement, and his contributions made the idea of finding beauty in everyday utilitarian crafts popular. Nam June Paik, a Korean-American media artist, is considered to be the founder of video art.

Other notable alumni and affiliates

File:Princess Masako, the present Empress of Japan.jpg|Masako, Empress of Japan File:Prince Mikasa Takahito wearing Sokutai.jpg|Takahito, Prince Mikasa File:Birendra Bir Bikram Shah c. 1967 (restoration).jpg|Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, King of Nepal File:Tokugawa Iemasa as the president of the house of peers.jpg|Duke Iemasa Tokugawa, 17th head of the Tokugawa clan File:Tokugawa Yoshichika 01.jpg|Marquess Yoshichika Tokugawa, botanist File:Chie Nakane cropped Chie Nakane 19951212.jpg|Chie Nakane, Social Anthropologist File:Yahiko Mishima and Paul Zerling 1912.jpg|Yahiko Mishima (left), first Japanese national to compete in the Olympics File:Kanō Jigorō 1936.jpg|Kanō Jigorō, founder of Judo Masako, Empress of Japan, attended UTokyo after finishing her first degree overseas, although she did not earn a degree from the university. The university's other recent connections with the Imperial family include Takahito, Prince Mikasa, younger brother of Emperor Hirohito, who studied archaeology; Fujimaro, Marquess of Tsukuba, a younger son of Kikumaro, Prince Yamashina, who studied Japanese literature. Additionally, Crown Prince Fumihito, and his daughter Princess Mako both worked at the University Museum at different times. King Birendra of Nepal also attended UTokyo but did not earn a degree. UTokyo was a preferred educational institution for members of the Japanese aristocracy before any form of peerage, with the exception of the Imperial family, was prohibited with the 1947 constitution. Duke Iemasa Tokugawa, 17th head of the House of Tokugawa, studied law at the university and led a career as a diplomat. Other members of the clan who attended the university include Marquess Yoshichika Tokugawa, who became active as a botanist and patron of arts and sciences later in his life, and Earl Muneyoshi Tokugawa, who was the primary promoter of forestation movements in Japan. Earl Yoriyasu Arima studied agriculture and later served as the Minister of Agriculture. The Arima Kinen, the world's largest betting horse race, was named in his honour. Marquess Yoshi Hijikata, with his strong communist sympathies, fled to Soviet Russia and was deprived of his title on account of this. Another communist sympathiser among UTokyo's alumni, Hotsumi Ozaki, played a central role in Soviet espionage with Richard Sorge and was executed for high treason in 1944.

Chie Nakane, a social anthropologist, was one of the first nineteen female students matriculated at UTokyo in 1947, and she later became the first female professor in the university's history. Hidesaburo Ueno, an agricultural scientist who studied and worked at the Faculty of Agriculture, is best known as the owner of the devoted dog Hachiko, who continued to wait for him for more than 9 years. Although the university is not particularly noted for athletics today, beginning with Yahiko Mishima, the first-ever Japanese Olympian who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics, 33 UTokyo students and alumni have competed in the Olympics. Kusuo Kitamura, later a senior bureaucrat at the Ministry of Labour, won a gold medal in the Men's 1500 metre freestyle swimming in the 1932 Summer Olympics. Judo, now an Olympic sport, was created by Jigoro Kano in 1882, the year he graduated from UTokyo. He was also the central figure in Japan's successful bid to host the 1940 Summer Olympic Games, which had to be cancelled due to the Second World War.

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