The University of Tokyo

The University of Tokyo was established in 1877 as the first national university in Japan. The University of Tokyo (known as UTokyo) is Japan's most prestigious university As a leading research university, UTokyo offers courses in essentially all academic disciplines at both undergraduate and graduate levels and conducts research across the full spectrum of academic activity. The University aims to provide its students with a rich and varied academic environment that ensures opportunities for both intellectual development and the acquisition of professional knowledge and skills. 

UTokyo is conducting a wide range of research in humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, while making constant efforts to create an interdisciplinary and cutting-edge academic curriculum. UTokyo is renowned for its Nobel Prize-winning research and Nobel Prizes have been awarded to UTokyo graduates for Physics, Literature and Peace.

The University of Tokyo continued to merge with many different schools specializing in various fields, such as the Imperial College of Engineering and Tokyo School of Agriculture and Forestry, thereby growing into a comprehensive research university. The University also has experienced a number of name changes over the years. Due to the incorporation of all national universities in 2004, the University’s full name is now National University Corporation, the University of Tokyo.

UTokyo consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, 9 Faculties, 15 Graduate Schools and 11 Institutes. There are also 17 university-wide centers open to scholars of all departments and faculties of the University; several of these centers are also open to scholars from all universities in Japan. The university-wide centers were created with the aim of facilitating inter-faculty collaboration and interdisciplinary research. A large number of research facilities are also connected to the various faculties of the University. All our institutes and research facilities work closely with their related faculties and graduate schools, and many of the faculty members associated with these institutes are engaged in graduate school instruction and supervise graduate students working towards advanced degrees.

UTokyo is based on the cornerstone of its three core campuses of Hongo, Komaba, and Kashiwa in the metropolitan area, and strong links with its own facilities in other parts of Tokyo and Japan. The Tokyo campuses have a total area of 163 hectares, and the University possesses over 32,000 hectares of land throughout Japan. At the undergraduate level, UTokyo adopts a flexible system integrating diverse and specialized education on a broad foundation of liberal arts, divided into the junior and senior divisions. All junior division students attend the Komaba Campus for their first two years, where they acquire a solid grounding in their field of study, coupled with a general liberal arts education. For the following two years, many join the senior division at the Hongo Campus, where they continue with further specialization in their field, while students of the College of Arts and Sciences remain at the Komaba Campus to continue their studies. The Kashiwa Campus, the newest campus of the three, houses the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, and the Institute for Solid State Physics.

The University library system, centered on the General Library, is composed as a network linking the 37 libraries affiliated with the various faculties, institutes, and graduate schools. It holds approximately 8.7 million books and periodicals, including many rare publications. In response to recent technological innovations, the library system has been actively digitizing scholarly information. The University Museum is actually a system of specialized museums covering a wide range of fields from paleontology to Andean anthropology, and its collection holds nearly half of the University's 6.4 million items related to research.

At UTokyo, it place strong emphasis on cooperation and links at all levels of research and education-interfaculty, interdisciplinary, and with other universities in Japan and overseas-and are working hard to establish strong local and global research and education networks to deepen and strengthen ties with Asia and the world. As of May 2010, students and academics from the University have taken part in 351 official exchange programs in 51 countries, nearly half of which are included in research collaboration agreements, and each year many visitors come to UTokyo as part of these exchanges. In 2005, UTokyo opened its first university-wide overseas liaison office in Beijing, signaling the start of a new phase in our efforts to deepen and strengthen ties with Asia and the world. The establishment of the UTokyo-Yale Initiative in 2007 is aimed to strengthen Japanese studies in the USA and deepen ties between scholars in Yale and UTokyo.

Under the Global 30 Project, UTokyo is geared towards furthering internationalization. Presently, it offer a number of graduate programs in a wide variety of fields completely organized in English, and it expect other international courses to be prepared in English within a few years. At the undergraduate level, the College of Arts and Sciences will launch two interdisciplinary international programs in 2012,which are "International Program on Japan in East Asia" and "International Program on Environmental Sciences".

The University of Tokyo features numerous top-class facilities. Cultural facilities include the library system, museums and botanical gardens. The University also offers swimming pools, gyms, sports fields and more at its athletic facilities. In addition, two major hospitals are located on the University’s grounds. Ito International Research Center, a conference hall available for public use, is also situated on the Hongo Campus.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo strive to carry out world-class research in pursuit of academic excellence and to contribute to the accumulation and diversity of human knowledge. By active translation of research results to society, the University of Tokyo aims to support deeper and broader understanding of our research activities within society in general, and to contribute to the realization of peaceful and fair international and local societies.

Students at the University of Tokyo can enjoy a wide range of support and benefits in every respect. Overseas students will be assisted from administrative procedures before enrollment, including visa and housing, to every matter related to academic and campus lives. Students are also invited to participate in a wide range of special activities and diverse events offered by the University so that they can broaden their horizons.

The University of Tokyo publishes a variety of magazines, guidebooks and newsletters, some of which are offered in English and other languages. University-wide publications include the University of Tokyo Outline, the International Student Handbook, and the University’s official magazine, Tansei. Many of the Faculties, Graduate Schools, Institutes and Centers also release their own publications in languages other than Japanese.