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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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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]
Students28,697[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
Akamon (the Red Gate).
Yasuda Auditorium on the University of Tokyo's Hongō Campus
Entrance exam results being presented to the public and admitted students celebrating

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 2010 according to Academic Ranking of World Universities.

History

The university was chartered 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 1897 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.

For the 1964 Summer Olympics, the university hosted the running portion of the modern pentathlon event.[7]

Organization

Faculties

[8]

  • Law
  • Medicine
  • Engineering
  • Letters
  • Science
  • Agriculture
  • Economics
  • Arts and Sciences
  • Education
  • Pharmaceutical Sciences

Graduate schools

[8]

  • 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

[8]

  • 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
  • Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute
  • Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology

The University's School of Science and the Earthquake Research Institute are both represented on the national Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction.[9]

Ranking

Notable alumni and faculty members

Main article: List of University of Tokyo people
  • University of Tokyo has produced many notable people. Fifteen prime ministers in Japan have studied at University of Tokyo.[18] 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.[19]
  • Seven alumni of University of Tokyo have received the Nobel Prize.
  1. Yasunari Kawabata, Literature, 1968
  2. Leo Esaki, Physics, 1973
  3. Eisaku Satō, Peace, 1974
  4. Kenzaburō Ōe, Literature, 1994
  5. Masatoshi Koshiba, Physics, 2002
  6. Yoichiro Nambu, Physics, 2008
  7. Ei-ichi Negishi, Chemistry, 2010

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
    Information Center
  • 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), 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

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.

See also

References

  1. ^ "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. ^ The School and the University. University of California Press. 1985. p. 156. ISBN 0-520-5423-7. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help)
  5. ^ Arthritic Japan: the slow pace of economic reform. Brookings Institution Press. 2001. ISBN 0815700733page=148. {{cite book}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Missing pipe in: |first= (help)
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ 1964 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 2. Part 2. p. 761.
  8. ^ a b c "Departments". The University of Tokyo.
  9. ^ Organizations with ties to CCEP CCEP, accessed 2011-03-19
  10. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities - 2009". ShanghaiRanking Consultancy. 2009.
  11. ^ "World University Rankings". The Times Higher Educational Supplement. 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-16.
  12. ^ "QS World University Rankings 2010 Results".
  13. ^ "Asian university rankings - top 200". QS TopUniversities. 2010.
  14. ^ "TOP - 100 (Global universities ranking)". Global Universities Ranking. 2009.
  15. ^ "300 Best World Universities 2010". ChaseCareer Network.
  16. ^ "International Professional Ranking of Higher Education Institutions". École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris. 2009.
  17. ^ "Nature Publishing Index: Global Top 50". Nature Publishing Group. 2011.
  18. ^ "大学別総理大臣リスト List of prime ministers by graduated universities" (in Japanese). 大学ranking.net.
  19. ^ McGregor, Richard (15 May 2010). "China's Private Party". Wall Street Journal.
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