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UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO
BASIC INFORMATION:
BRIEF HISTORY:
- • The University of Tokyo was established on April 12, 1877, as the nation’s first modern university.
• It is the first university to be established in Japan.
• It was renamed Imperial University and then Tokyo Imperial University until the dissolution of the Empire of Japan.
- • Located in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
• It is ranked 28th in the world and 1st in Japan by QS World University Ranking, 29th in the world by Times Higher Education World University Rankings and 1st in Japan, 2nd in Asia, and 10th in the world by Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2023.
• Tokyo University was ranked 11th in the world for Natural Sciences, 18th for Engineering and Technology, 35th for Social Sciences & Management, & 32nd for Arts and Humanities.
• UTokyo receives the highest KAKENHI grants-in-aid (Japan’s largest national research grant) for Scientific Research in the country.
DEGREE PROGRAMMES:
- • Tokyo University has 10 undergraduate faculties which include - Science, Medicine, Pharmaceutical sciences, Engineering and Agriculture.
• The university’s Japanese Learning Education offers 10 different programs for Japanese language proficiency for its international students and researchers which are offered through 9 different faculties/departments and the Centre for Japanese Language Education.
ALUMNI:
SOME FAMOUS ALUMNI:
- • 12 Noble Prize laureates (highest among universities in Asia)
• 18 Japanese Prime Ministers
• 4 Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
• 6 cabinet members and 1/5th of total National Diet seat members
• 11 out of 15 incumbent justices of the Supreme Court
- • Toyo Ito, Kenzo Tange, Arata Isozaki & Fumihiko Maki - Pritzker Architecture Prize winner
• Ei-ichi Negishi – Noble Laureate in Chemistry, 2010
• Yoshinori Ohsumi – Noble Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2016
• Syukuro Manabe – Noble Laureate in Physics, 2021
• Eisaku Sato – Prime Minister of Japan (1964-72) as well as a Noble Laureate in Peace
• Kitasato Shibasaburō – discovered the infectious agent of bubonic plague
• Kiyoshi Ito – notable work in probability theory
• Hantaro Nagaoka – a pioneer in atomic theory
• Kiichiro Toyoda – founder of Toyota Motor and Namihei Odaira – founder of Hitachi
• Osamu Dazai – Writer (best known for ‘The Setting Sun’ and ‘No Longer Human’)
• Isao Takahata – co-founder of Studio Ghibli ( created Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, the tale of Princess Kaguya, Pom Poko, the Grave of the Fireflies)
CAMPUS INFO:
- • It has three main campuses: Hongo, Komaba & Kashiwa campuses:
• The Hongo campus has served as the university’s center since 1884.
o The campus is cocooned by various landmarks ranging from the Akamon gate (the red gate), the city’s largest indoor stadium the Tokyo Dome, and the bookshop hub Jimbocho, and faces the Shinobazu pond to the east.
o It is served by three metro stations making commuting easy for non-campus students and serves easy transportation.
o The campus has a Ginkgo leaf avenue which is the symbol of the university as the trees are found throughout the area.
o Hongo campus annually hosts the UTokyo May Festival.
• The Komaba campus serves as the educational hub for the first two years of undergraduate studies
o It houses the graduate schools of Arts, Sciences, and Mathematical Sciences comprising of research facilities.
o Around 600 senior undergraduates and 1400 graduates have been provided education across various disciplines.
o The Komba-Todimae station opens directly to the main gate of the campus.
o The main attractions of this campus include – the Komaba Museum, the Institute of Industrial Science underwater robot PETROA 150, the clock tower, and the Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology.
• The Kashiwa campus is specialized in postgraduate studies and research facilities.
o It is UTokyo’s newest campus and is the center of some of the latest scientific research.
o The campus houses various institutes like the Cosmic Ray Research Institute, the Institute for Solid State Physics, the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, and the Kashiwa Research Complex for Spatial Information Science.
o This campus is the first to have a sushi restaurant at student-friendly pricing!
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