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University of Tokyo

University of Tokyo
東京大学
University of Tokyo:The logo of the University of Tokyo
Motto None
Established 1877
Type Public (National)
Endowment N/A
President Hiroshi Komiyama
Faculty 2,429 full-time
175 part-time [1]
Staff 5,779
Students 28,071[2]
Undergraduates 14,471
Postgraduates 13,600
Doctoral students 12,668
Professional students 932
Location Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
Campus Urban
Athletics 46 varsity teams
Colors N/A
Nickname Warriors, etc.
Mascot None
Affiliations Tokyo Six Universities
Website www.u-tokyo.ac.jp

The University of Tokyo (東京大学 Tōkyō daigaku?), abbreviated as Todai (東大 Tōdai?), is one of the leading research universities in Japan.

The University has ten faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, some 2,100 of them foreign[3], and its five campuses are in Hongo, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano.


Contents

History

University of Tokyo:Akamon (the Red Gate)
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Akamon (the Red Gate)

The university was founded by the Meiji government in 1877 under its current name by amalgamating older government schools for medicine and Western learning. It was renamed to the Imperial University (帝國大學 Teikoku daigaku?) in 1886, and then Tokyo Imperial University (東京帝國大學 Tōkyō teikoku daigaku?) in 1887 when the Imperial University system was created.

In 1947, after Japan's defeat in World War II, it assumed the original name again. With the start of the new university system in 1949, Todai swallowed up the former First Higher School (today's Komaba campus) and the former Tokyo Higher School, which henceforth assumed the duty of teaching first and second-year undergraduates, while the faculties on Hongo main campus took care of third and fourth-year students.

The University of Tokyo has since 2004 been incorporated as a national university corporation under a new law which applies to all national universities.

Despite the incorporation, which has led to increased financial independence and autonomy, The University of Tokyo is still partly controlled by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT Monbukagakusho, or Monkasho?).

Academics

Profile

While nearly all academic disciplines are taught at the University, it is perhaps best known for its faculties of science and technology.

Furthermore, this university has produced many Japanese politicians, though the power of the school has been gradually decreasing. For example; the ratio of its alumni in prime ministers is 2/3, 1/2, 1/4, 1/5 and 1/6 in the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s respectively.

The University of Tokyo is widely thought of as being one of the most prestigious schools over many areas while its rival schools are the other six of the Seven Universities, which were Imperial Universities before World War II, especially Kyoto University. In science, Kyoto University has produced more Nobel prize winners. One of the presidents of Tokyo Imperial University was Kikuchi Dairoku.

Faculties and Graduate Schools

Faculties

University of Tokyo:Yasuda Auditorium on the University of Tokyo's Hongo Campus.
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Yasuda Auditorium on the University of Tokyo's Hongo Campus.

Graduate Schools

Research Institutes

Rankings

Top 100 Asia Pacific Universities(2005)
by Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.

  1. The University of Tokyo
  2. Kyoto University
  3. Australian National University
  4. Osaka University
  5. Tohoku University
  6. Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  7. University of Melbourne
  8. Tokyo Institute of Technology

see rest at [3]

Campus

The main Hongo campus occupies the former estate of the Maeda family, Edo period feudal lords of Kaga Province. The university's best known landmark, Akamon (the Red Gate) is a relic of this era. The symbol of the university is the ginkgo leaf, from the abundant trees throughout the area.

Sanshiro Pond

University of Tokyo:Sanshiro Pond detail, Tokyo University's Hongo campus.
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Sanshiro Pond detail, Tokyo University's Hongo campus.

Sanshiro Pond (三四郎池 Sanshirō ike?), in the heart of the university's Hongo campus, dates to 1615. After the fall of the Osaka Castle, the Shogun gave this pond and its surrounding garden to Maeda Toshitsune. As Maeda Tsunanori further developed the garden, it became known as one of the most beautiful gardens in Edo (now Tokyo), with the traditional eight landscapes and eight borders, but also known for its originality in its artificial pond, hills, and pavilions. It was at that time known as Ikutoku-en (Garden of Teaching Virtue). The pond's contours are in the shape of the character kokoro or shin (heart), and thus its official name is Ikutoku-en Shinjiike. However it has been commonly called Sanshiro Pond since the publication of Natsume Soseki's novel Sanshiro.

Faculty members

Notable alumni

Prime Ministers

Mathematicians

Architects

Authors

Entertainment

Others

University of Tokyo in fiction

University of Tokyo in nonfiction

Notes

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ a large fraction by Japanese standards

See also


National Seven Universities
Hokkaido • Kyoto • Kyushu • Nagoya • Osaka • Tohoku • Tokyo
Tokyo Big Six Baseball League
Hosei • Keio • Meiji • Rikkyo • Tokyo • Waseda
BESETOHA Universities
Beijing University · Seoul National University · University of Tokyo · University of Hanoi

Categories


Universities and colleges in Asia | Japanese national universities | National Seven Universities | Education in Tokyo | Nursing schools in Japan | Educational institutions established in 1877

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