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The , abbreviated as , is one of the leading research universities in Japan.
The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, some 2,100 of them foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongo, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano.

Contents

History

Organization

Faculties

Graduate Schools

Research Institutes

Academic rankings

Campus

Sanshiro Pond

Notable alumni and faculty members

In fiction

In non-fiction

See also

References

External links

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 " in 1886, and then 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, ''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.
The University of Tokyo has since 2004 been incorporated as a "national university corporation" under a new law which applies to all national universities.
While nearly all academic disciplines are taught at the University, it is perhaps best known for its faculties of science, law, and literature (i.e., faculty of letters).
Furthermore, the law department has produced many Japanese politicians, though the power of the department 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 Nobel prize winners. One of the presidents of Tokyo Imperial University was Kikuchi Dairoku.

Organization

Faculties

★ Law

★ Medicine

★ Engineering

★ Letters

★ Science

★ Agriculture

★ Economics

★ Arts and Sciences

★ Education

★ Pharmaceutical Sciences

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 rankings

In the 2006 THES - QS World University Rankings, the University was placed 19th in the world and 2nd in Asia.^[3]
The 2005 "ARWU" rankings, drawn up by Shanghai Jiao Tong University placed the University of Tokyo first in the Asia Pacific region in terms of quality of scientific research leading towards a Nobel Prize.^[4]

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 abundant trees throughout the area.

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 Sōseki's novel ''Sanshiro''.

Notable alumni and faculty members

Main articles: List of University of Tokyo people

University of Tokyo has produced many notable people. Six Japanese Prime Ministers have studied at University of Tokyo.

In fiction

★ In the manga and anime ''Love Hina'', the main character, Keitaro Urashima, is a student who adamantly wishes to enter the University of Tokyo, and fails the entrance exam three times but makes it the 4th time.

★ In the manga and anime ''Death Note'', the two main characters, Light Yagami and L, take the entrance exam to get get into the University of Tokyo and get in together.

★ In the anime ''Chobits'', the main male character, Hideki Motosuwa is trying to get into the University of Tokyo.

★ The manga ''Dragon Zakura'' is about a poor lawyer—and former motorcycle gang member—who tries to make students from a high school with a poor academic standing enter the University of Tokyo directly upon graduation.

★ The teacher/stalker character Suguru Teshigawara from the popular manga and anime series ''Great Teacher Onizuka'' (''GTO'') was educated at the University of Tokyo and often takes pride in his education.

★ Kintaro Oe, of the manga and anime ''Golden Boy'', studied Law there. Though he acquired all the necessary credits to get a degree there, he left before graduation so that he could embark on a quest of learning as a freeter (someone who specializes in doing only part time jobs).

★ In the manga and anime ''Detective School Q'', the character Yutaka Saburomaru takes great pride into his position as a student of the University of Tokyo, flaunting it around as much as he can. He even possesses a handkerchief with the logo of the university.

★ The manga and anime ''Tokyo University Story'' revolves around attempting gain entrance to the University of Tokyo.

In non-fiction

★ Manabu Miyazaki; ''Toppamono: Outlaw. Radical. Suspect. My Life in Japan's Underworld'' (2005, Kotan Publishing, ISBN 0-9701716-2-5)

See also

★ Gakushi-kai　The club of the grade

★ Imperial College of Engineering

★ Kikuchi Dairoku

★ Koishikawa Botanical Gardens

★ Nikko Botanical Garden

★ The University of Tokyo Library

References

1. The University of Tokyo [Organization] Number of Students / Personnel
2. The University of Tokyo [Number of Students] Enrollment
3. THES - QS World University Rankings 2006 - Top 200 Universities
4. Top 100 Asia Pacific Universities

External links

★ University of Tokyo