Imperial Universities

The National Seven Universities (国立七大学, kokuritsu nana-daigaku) is formally used to refer to seven public institutions of higher education in Japan. The term "Former Imperial Universities" (旧帝大, kyūteidai) is commonly used for these seven universities, as they once constituted the Japanese Imperial University system, formed prior to World War II.

The term is also used to refer to the annual athletic competition among these seven schools. The athletic competition started under the sponsorship of Hokkaido University, formerly known as Seven National Universities Athletic Competition (全国七大学総合体育大会, zenkoku nana-daigaku sōgō taiiku-taikai) in 1962. The Japanese name of the athletic competition was later recoined as 国立七大学総合体育大会 (kokuritsu nana-daigaku sōgō taiiku-taikai) in 2002.

In a wider sense, the term is used to refer to the social group once strongly associated with these seven schools, including Gakushikai, the alumni clubs.

Members

Institution	Location	Full-time enrollment	Founded	Chartered
Hokkaido University	Sapporo, Hokkaidō	11,153	1918 as Hokkaido Imperial University
Kyoto University	Kyoto, Kyoto	13,064	1897 as Kyoto Imperial University
Kyushu University	Fukuoka, Fukuoka	11,689	1911 as Kyushu Imperial University
Nagoya University	Nagoya, Aichi	9,818	1939 as Nagoya Imperial University
Osaka University	Suita, Osaka	12,229	1931 as Osaka Imperial University
Tohoku University	Sendai, Miyagi	10,692	1907 as Tohoku Imperial University
University of Tokyo	Bunkyō, Tokyo	14,711	1877 as Imperial University

The total number of full-time enrollment of all seven universities amounts to 83,356.

History

Nine Imperial Universities (帝國大學, teikoku daigaku) were founded by the Empire of Japan between 1877 and 1939, seven in Japan, one in Korea and one in Taiwan. They were run by the imperial government until the end of World War II. The seven Japanese universities are collectively known as the National Seven Universities (國立七大學, kokuritsu nana-daigaku). The universities are:

• Tokyo Imperial University (東京帝國大學); now University of Tokyo (東京大学)
• Kyoto Imperial University (京都帝國大學); now Kyoto University (京都大学)
• Tohoku Imperial University (東北帝國大學); now Tohoku University (東北大学)
• Kyushu Imperial University (九州帝國大學); now Kyushu University (九州大学)
• Hokkaido Imperial University (北海道帝國大學); now Hokkaido University (北海道大学)
• Osaka Imperial University (大阪帝國大學); now Osaka University (大阪大学)
• Nagoya Imperial University (名古屋帝國大學); now Nagoya University (名古屋大学)
• Keijō Imperial University (京城帝國大學); dissolved and absorbed as part of Seoul National University (서울대학교)
• Taihoku Imperial University (臺北帝國大學); now National Taiwan University (國立臺灣大學)