| The University of Tokyo | |
|---|---|
| 東京大学 | |
 | |
| Latin: Universitas Tociensis | |
| Established | 1877 |
| Type | Public (National) |
| President | Junichi Hamada (濱田純一) |
| Faculty | 2,429 full-time 175 part-time[1] |
| Staff | 5,779 |
| Students | 28,697[2] |
| Undergraduates | 14,274 |
| Postgraduates | 13,732 |
| Doctoral students | 6,022 |
| Other students | 747 research students |
| Location | Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Light Blue |
| Mascot | None |
| Athletics | 46 varsity teams |
| Affiliations | IARU, APRU, AEARU, AGS, BESETOHA |
| Website | u-tokyo.ac.jp |
 | |
The University of Tokyo (東京大学 Tōkyō daigaku), abbreviated as Todai (東大 Tōdai)[3], is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university in Japan.[4][5] It ranks as the highest in Asia and 20th in the world in 2009 according to Academic Ranking of World Universities.
History
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 "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 re-assumed its original name. 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.
Although the university was founded during the Meiji period, it has earlier roots in the Astronomy Agency (天文方; 1684), Shoheizaka Study Office (昌平坂学問所; 1797), and the Western Books Translation Agency (蕃書和解御用; 1811).[6] These institutions were government offices established by the 徳川幕府 Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1867), and played an important role in the importation and translation of books from Europe.
Kikuchi Dairoku, an important figure in Japanese education, served as president of Tokyo Imperial University.
Organization
Faculties
- Law
- Medicine
- Engineering
- Letters
- Science
- Agriculture
- Economics
- Arts and Sciences
- Education
- Pharmaceutical Sciences
- History
- Environmental Studies
Graduate schools
- Humanities and Sociology
- Education
- Law and Politics
- Economics
- Arts and Sciences
- Science
- Engineering
- Agricultural and Life Sciences
- Medicine
- Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Mathematical Sciences
- Frontier Sciences
- Information Science and Technology
- Interdisciplinary Information Studies
- Public Policy
Research institutes
- Institute of Medical Science
- Earthquake Research Institute
- Institute of Oriental Culture
- Institute of Social Science
- Institute of Industrial Science
- Historiographical Institute
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
- Institute for Cosmic Ray Research
- Institute for Solid State Physics
- Ocean Research Institute
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology
Academic ranking
- Global University Ranking ranked the University of Tokyo 3rd in the world and 1st in Asia.[8]
- QS World University Rankings ranked the University of Tokyo 22nd in the world and 1st in Asia in 2009[9] and 5th in Asian university rankings in 2010.[10]
- Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked the University of Tokyo 20th in the world and 1st in Asia.[11]
- Human Resources & Labor Review, a human competitiveness index & analysis published in Chasecareer Network, ranked the university 21st internationally and 1st in Asia for 2009.[12]
Notable alumni and faculty members
- University of Tokyo has produced many notable people. Fifteen prime ministers in Japan have studied at University of Tokyo.[13] Former prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa ordered Japanese government agencies to reduce the rate of employees who had attended the university's law faculty to below 50 percent due to concerns about diversity in the bureaucracy.[14]
- Six alumni of University of Tokyo have received the Nobel Prize.
- Yasunari Kawabata, Literature, 1968
- Leo Esaki, Physics, 1973
- Eisaku Satō, Peace, 1974
- Kenzaburō Ōe, Literature, 1994
- Masatoshi Koshiba, Physics, 2002
- Yoichiro Nambu, Physics, 2008
Campus
Hongo 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 trees found throughout the area.
 Information Center |  First Medical Building |  Second Medical Building |  Medical Experimental Research Bldg. |
 Medical Library |  General Library |  The Experimental Tank |
Sanshiro Pond
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. With further development of the garden by Maeda Tsunanori, it became known as one of the most beautiful gardens in Edo (now Tokyo), with the traditional eight landscapes and eight borders, and known for originality in 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. It has been commonly called Sanshiro Pond after the title of Natsume Sōseki's novel Sanshiro.
Komaba Campus
One of the five campuses of the University of Tokyo, the Komaba Campus is home to the College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, and a number of advanced research facilities and campus services. This is the campus where all the freshmen and sophomores of the University of Tokyo spend their college life. The University of Tokyo is the only university in Japan which has a system of two years of general education before students can choose and move on to special fields of study. The Komaba Campus is the cornerstone of general education, and was designated as the "center of excellence" for three new areas of research by the Ministry of Education and Science. There are currently over 7,000 students (freshmen and sophomores) enrolled in the general education courses, about 450 students (juniors and seniors) pursuing their specialties in the College of Arts and Sciences, and 1,400 graduate students in the advanced study.
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