University of Tokyo

Infobox University
name = The University of Tokyo
native_name = 東京大学
latin_name = Universitas Tokiensis

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image_size = 150px
motto =
established = 1877
type = Public (National)
president = Hiroshi Komiyama
city = Bunkyō
state = Tokyo
country = Japan
faculty = 2,429 full-time
175 part-time [cite web|url=http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/index/b02_03_e.html|title=The University of Tokyo [Organization] Number of Students / Personnel|accessdate=2007-06-14]
staff = 5,779
students = 28,071 [cite web|url=http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/stu04/e08_02_e.html|title=The University of Tokyo [Number of Students] Enrollment|accessdate=2007-06-14]
undergrad = 14,471
postgrad = 13,600
doctoral = 12,668
profess = 932
campus = Urban
athletics = 46 varsity teams
colors = Light Blue
mascot = None
affiliations = IARU, APRU, AEARU, AGS, BESETOHA
website = [http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ u-tokyo.ac.jp]
footnotes =
address =
telephone =

The nihongo|University of Tokyo|東京大学|Tōkyō daigaku, abbreviated as nihongo|"Todai"|東大|Tōdai, is a major research university located in Tokyo, 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 Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is widely considered to be the premier university in Japan, and one source rates it highest in Asia. [" [http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2007/ARWU2007_TopAsia.htm Top 100 Asia Pacific Universities] ", " [http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2007/ranking2007.htm Academic Ranking of World Universities 2007] ", Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. ("Asia Pacific" here seems to mean Asia and Australasia.)]

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 nihongo|Imperial University|帝國大學|Teikoku daigaku" in 1886, and then nihongo|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, "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.Clarifyme|date=June 2007

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).Fact|date=June 2007

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.Fact|date=April 2007

The University of Tokyo is widely thought of as being one of the most prestigious schools in many academic areas. Its rival schools are the other six of the Seven Universities, which were Imperial Universities before World War II. Its primary rival is considered to be Kyoto University, which has, in fact, produced more Nobel Prize winners.

Kikuchi Dairoku, an important educational figure in Japan, was one of the presidents of Tokyo Imperial University.

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 ranking

Five alumni of University of Tokyo have received the Nobel Prize.Fact|date=August 2008

In the 2008 University ranking published by The Times Higher Education Supplement, the University of Tokyo was ranked 19th in the world and 1st in Asia.cite web | url = http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/hybrid.asp?typeCode=243&pubCode=1&navcode=137 | title = World University Rankings 2008 | accessdate = 2008-10-10 | date = 2008-10-09 | work = Times Higher Education | publisher = TSL Education Ltd]

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.

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 that has a system involving two years of general education before students can choose and move on to their special fields of study. In this system, 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 Japanese Ministry of Education and Science. There are currently over 7,000 students (freshmen and sophomores) enrolled in the general-education course, about 450 students (juniors and seniors) pursuing their specialties in the College of Arts and Sciences, and 1,400 graduate students devoting themselves to further advanced studies.

Sanshiro Pond

nihongo|"Sanshiro Pond"|三四郎池|Sanshirō ike, 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" (), 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

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

ee 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

External links

* [http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ University of Tokyo]