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University of Tokyo

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The University of Tokyo (東京大学; Tōkyō Daigaku, abbreviated as 東大 Tōdai) is one of the leading research universities in Japan. The University has five campuses in Hongo, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano and 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, some 2,100 of them foreign (a large fraction by Japanese standards). While nearly all academic disciplines are taught at the University, it is perhaps best known for its faculties of law and literature. This university has produced many Japanese politicians, though the power of the school has been gradually decreasing. For example; the ratio of its alumni in prime ministers is 2/3, 1/2, 1/4, 1/5 and 1/6 in the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s respectively. The University of Tokyo is widely thought of as being one of the most prestigious schools over many areas while its rival schools are the other six of the Seven Universities, which were Imperial Universities before World War II, especially Kyoto University. In science, Kyoto University has produced more top scientists and Nobel prize winners. One of the presidents of Tokyo Imperial University was Kikuchi Dairoku.

It is one of the Tokyo 6 Universities in baseball.

The Akamon (Red Gate)
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The Akamon (Red Gate)

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, the Akamon (Red Gate) is a relic of this era. The symbol of the university is the ginkgo leaf, from the abundant trees throughout the area.

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 to 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 assumed the original name again. With the start of the new university system in 1949, Tōdai swallowed up the old First Higher School (today's Komaba campus) and the old 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.

The University of Tokyo has since 2004 been incorporated as a national university corporation under a new law which applies to all national universities.

Despite the incorporation, which has led to increased financial independence and autonomy, The University of Tokyo is still partly controlled by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT, Monbukagakusho, or Monbusho).

Contents

Faculties and Graduate Schools

Faculties

Graduate Schools

Research Institutes

Faculty members

Notable alumni

Prime Ministers

Mathematicians

Architects

Authors

In entertainment

Others

Sanshiro Pond

Sanshiro Pond, 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. As Maeda Tsunanori further developed the garden, it became known as one of the most beautiful gardens in Edo (now Tokyo), with the traditional eight landscapes and eight borders, but also known for its originality in its 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. However it has been commonly called Sanshiro Pond since the publication of Natsume Soseki's novel Sanshiro.

University of Tokyo in fiction

University of Tokyo in nonfiction

University of Tokyo in Asia

[Top 100 Asia Pacific Universities](2005)
by Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.
  1. The University of Tokyo
  2. Kyoto University
  3. Australian National University
  4. Osaka University
  5. Tohoku University
  6. Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  7. University of Melbourne
  8. Tokyo Institute of Technology
see rest at [link]

See also

External links


Tokyo Big Six Baseball League:
Hosei University | Keio University | Meiji University   
Rikkyo University | University of Tokyo | Waseda University

 

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