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University of Tokyo

Coordinates: 35°42′48″N 139°45′44″E / 35.71333°N 139.76222°E / 35.71333; 139.76222
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"Todai" redirects here. For the restaurant called Todai, see Todai (restaurant).

35°42′48″N 139°45′44″E / 35.71333°N 139.76222°E / 35.71333; 139.76222

The University of Tokyo
東京大学
File:U-tokyo logo.png
Latin: Universitas Tociensis
TypePublic (National)
Established1877
PresidentJunichi Hamada
(濱田純一)
Academic staff
2,429 full-time
175 part-time[1]
Students28,753[2]
Undergraduates14,274
Postgraduates13,732
6,022
Other students
747 research students
Location
Bunkyō
,
Tokyo
,
Japan
CampusUrban
ColorsLight Blue  
AffiliationsIARU, APRU, AEARU, AGS, BESETOHA
MascotNone
Websiteu-tokyo.ac.jp
File:U-tokyo logotype.png
The place of the establishment of the University of Tokyo

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 one of the most prestigious universities in Japan, and it often ranks as the highest in Asia.[4]

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).[5] 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

File:Tokyo University Akamon 2004-11-16.jpg
Akamon (the Red Gate).
Yasuda Auditorium on the University of Tokyo's Hongō Campus.

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

Six alumni of University of Tokyo have received the Nobel Prize. (See List of University of Tokyo people.)

In the ranking of colleges published by The Times Higher Education Supplement in 2008, the University of Tokyo ranked 19th in the world and first in Asia.[6]

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.

  • First Medical Building
    First Medical Building
  • Second Medical Building
    Second Medical Building
  • Medical Experimental Research Bldg.
    Medical Experimental Research Bldg.
  • Medical Library
    Medical Library
  • General Library
    General Library
  • The Experimental Tank
    The Experimental Tank

Sanshiro Pond

Sanshiro Pond detail, Tokyo University's Hongō 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. 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

Main article: University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus
File:Building.1.JPG
Komaba Campus detail, Tokyo University's 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.

Kashiwa Campus

Notable alumni and faculty members

Main article: List of University of Tokyo people

University of Tokyo has produced many notable people. Six prime ministers in Japan have studied at University of Tokyo.

See also

References

  1. ^ "The University of Tokyo [Organization] Number of Students / Personnel". Retrieved 2007-06-14.
  2. ^ "東京大学 (学生数)学生・研究生・聴講生数". Retrieved 2007-06-14.
  3. ^ What is Todai?
  4. ^ "Top 100 Asia Pacific Universities", "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2007", Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. ("Asia Pacific" here seems to mean Asia and Australasia.)
  5. ^ 東大と天皇－大日本帝国の生と死 （Todai and Emperors - Life and Death of Imperial Japan), by 立花　隆（Takashi Tachibana), (pp 22-62), ISBN4-16-367440-3
  6. ^ "World University Rankings 2008". Times Higher Education. TSL Education Ltd. 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
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