The University of Tokyo, abbreviated as Today is a research university located in Bunkyo, 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 the first of Japan's National Seven Universities. It ranks as the highest in Asia and 21st in the world according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2015. The University of Tokyo is widely considered to be the most prestigious university in Japan.
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 in 1886, and then Tokyo Imperial University in 1897 when the Imperial University system was created. In September 1923, an earthquake and the following fires destroyed about 700,000 volumes of the Imperial University Library. The books lost included the Hoshino Library, a collection of about 10,000 books. The books were the former possessions of Hoshino Hisashi before becoming part of the library of the university and were mainly about Chinese philosophy and history.
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, Today swallowed up the former First Higher School (today's Komaba campus) and the former Tokyo Higher School, which thenceforth 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, Shoheizaka Study Office, and the Western Books Translation Agency . These institutions were government offices established by the 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. On 20 January 2012, Todai announced that it would shift the beginning of its academic year from April to September to align its calendar with the international standard. The shift would be phased in over five years. According to the Japan Times, the university had 1,282 professors in February 2012. Of those, 58 were women.
In the fall of 2012 and for the first time, the University of Tokyo started two undergraduate programs entirely taught in English and geared toward international students Programs in English at Komaba (PEAK) the International Program on Japan in East Asia and the International Program on Environmental Sciences.
Campuses: 1. Hongo Campus:
The main Hongo campus occupies the former estate of the Maeda family, Edo period feudal lords of Kaga Province. One of the university's best known landmarks, 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. The Hongo campus also hosts the University of Tokyo's annual May Festival.
Information Center
First Medical Building
Second Medical Building
Medical Experimental Research Bldg.
Medical Library
General Library
The Experimental Tank
2. Sanshiro Pond:
Sanshiro Pond, 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.
3. 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.
4. Shirokanedai Campus:
The relatively small Shirokanedai Campus hosts the Institute of Medical Science of the University of Tokyo (IMSUT), which is entirely dedicated to postgraduate studies. The campus is focused on genome research, including among its facilities the Human Genome Center (HGC), which have at its disposal the largest supercomputer in the field.
Faculties:
1, Law
2, Medicine
3, Engineering
4, Letters
5, Science
6, Agriculture
7, Economics
8, Arts and Sciences
9, Education
10, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Graduate schools:
1, Humanities and Sociology
2, Education
3, Law and Politics
4, Economics
5, Arts and Sciences
6, Science
7, Engineering
8, Agricultural and Life Sciences
9, Medicine
10, Pharmaceutical Sciences
11, Mathematical Sciences
12, Frontier Sciences
13, Information Science and Technology
14, Interdisciplinary Information Studies
15, Public Policy
Research institutes:
1, Institute of Medical Science
2, Earthquake Research Institute
3, Institute of Oriental Culture
4, Institute of Social Science
5, Institute of Industrial Science
6, Historiographer Institute
7, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Bio sciences
8, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research
9, Institute for Solid State Physics
10, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute
11, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology
12, The University's School of Science and the Earthquake Research Institute are both represented on 13, the national Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction.