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Universities

There are over 700 universities in Japan today -- 82 former national universities, 73 public universities and 573 private universities. Since 2004, national universites have been converted into independent corporate entities and as of 2007 also 33 public universities have become legally independent organizations.


Gakkou.net offers extensive information on Japanese universities. The list below contains some of the major universities accepting foreign students and scholars.

 

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There are 18 Listings in this Category.

Chuo University, Tokyo (中央大学)

Chuo University was founded as Igirisu Horitsu Gakko (the English Law School) in 1885 and has since carried on a strong tradition of providing practical education based on British empiricism and rationalism, as well as maintaining the founding spirit of nurturing human resources. In the 120 years since its founding as the English Law School, Chuo University has evolved into one of the most prestigious universities in Japan, with six faculties and 26 departments.
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Doshisha University, Kyoto (同志社大学)

Founded in 1875 by Joseph Hardy Neesima, who left for America in 1864 and later became the first Japanese to obtain an academic degree overseas, Doshisha University promotes international understanding and interaction through scholarship and exchange study programs.
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Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo (一橋大学)

It is the only university in Japan to specialize exclusively in the humanities and social sciences. The academic organization consists of four undergraduate faculties: Commerce and Management, Economics, Law, and Social Sciences. Graduate schools are in the same four fields, plus International Corporate Strategy and Language and Society. The University also has an Institute of Economic Research and an Institute of Innovation Research.
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Hokkaido University, Sapporo (北海道大学)

Started out in 1876 as an agricultural college, Hokkaido University today is a comprehensive university that places importance on its graduate schools.
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Hosei University, Tokyo (法政大学)

The University was established by non-governmental lawyers in 1880, as Tokyo School of Law around the time of the rise of the Democratic Rights Movement in connection with the establishment of the Diet. It has been proactively promoting reforms and today has expanded itself to have 15 faculties.
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International Christian University, Tokyo (国際基督教大学)

ICU was established in 1953 as the first liberal arts college in Japan, with donations in Japan and the U.S. Emphasis on liberal arts and instruction in small classes has not changed since. It has a broad international student body, and its bilingual instruction and transferable credits with universities abroad are the unique features of the University.
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Keio University, Tokyo (慶應義塾)

Keio has a proud history as Japan's very first private institution of higher learning, which dates back to the formation of a school for Dutch studies in 1858 in Edo (now Tokyo) by founder Yukichi Fukuzawa, who is known as an enlightenment thinker, introducing Western education, institutions, and social thought to Japan and is today portrayed on the 10,000-yen note.
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Kyoto University, Kyoto (京都大学)

The university was founded in 1897 as the second public university to be established in Japan. Today, the school has ten Faculties, sixteen Graduate Schools, thirteen Research Institutes, and twenty-one Research and Educational Centres in all scientific fields.
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Kyushu University, Fukuoka (九州大学)

Kyushu University has a long and distinguished history. Its origins can be traced back to 1903 when the Fukuoka Medical College - the direct predecessor of the present Faculty of Medical Sciences - was established and attached to Kyoto Imperial University. In 1911, the College was merged with the College of Engineering and officially opened as Kyushu Imperial University. Over the course of its history, Kyushu University has continued to expand. At present, there are eleven Undergraduate Schools, ...
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Meiji University, Tokyo (明治大学)

Meiji University was founded in 1881 as the Meiji Law School by three young lawyers trained in French law. Today, it is regarded as a prominent private university in Japan, consisting of eight schools: the School of Law, School of Commerce, School of Political Science and Economics, School of Arts and Letters, School of Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, School of Business Administration and School of Information and Communication.
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Nagoya University, Aichi (名古屋大学)

Founded as a provisional medical school with hospital in 1871, it has since become a major public university named Nagoya University. Nagoya University aims to contribute to society through technological innovation, cultivation of outstanding human resources, and provision of advanced medical treatment. Next to education and research, the University aims at the future development and solution of various matters of its regional society relating to culture, politics, economy and industry.
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Osaka University, Osaka (大阪大学)

Osaka Imperial University was inaugurated as the sixth imperial university in Japan in 1931. It started with two faculties; medicine and science. The School of Engineering was added as a third faculty two years later. Osaka Imperial University changed its name to Osaka University in 1947. In 1949, as a result of the government's education system reform, Osaka University started its postwar career with five faculties: science, medicine, engineering, letters and law. Today, it has 11 faculties wit ...
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Rikkyo University, Tokyo (立教大学)

Rikkyo Gakuin was founded in 1874 as a small private school in Tsukiji, Tokyo by Bishop Williams, a missionary of the American Episcopal Church. Records from the period indicate that Bishop Williams founded the school with the aim of building a university modeled after American liberal arts colleges, with a firm focus on providing a spiritual education to the young people of Japan. His philosophy ran counter to the trend at that time, as Japanese schools concentrated on providing a commercial an ...
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Sophia University, Tokyo (上智大学)

The origins of Sophia University can be traced back to 1549, when St. Francis Xavier arrived in Japan on a mission from the Society of Jesus. Xavier wanted to open a European-style university in the country, however it took until 1906 for the project to get under way, as it was in this year that Pope Pius X eventually authorized the Society of Jesus to establish the first Catholic university in Japan. To this end, three Jesuits were dispatched on a special mission in 1908 and the university was ...
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The Tokyo University, Tokyo (東京大学)

The University of Tokyo was established in 1877 as the first national university in Japan. As a leading research university, it offers courses in essentially all academic disciplines at both undergraduate and graduate levels and conducts research across the full spectrum of academic activity. The university aims to provide its students with a rich and varied academic environment that ensures opportunities for both intellectual development and the acquisition of professional knowledge and skills.
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Tohoku University, Sendai (東北大学)

Tohoku University was founded in 1907 as the third Imperial University of Japan, following the Tokyo Imperial University and Kyoto Imperial University; and from its start, it displayed to the world an unswerving commitment of an “Open-Door” policy. Departing from the norms of other imperial universities, it has accepted graduates from higher technical schools and normal schools, and despite the opposition from the government at that time, becoming Japan’s First National University to admit ...
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United Nations University, Tokyo (国連大学)

UNU is dedicated to the generation and transfer of knowledge, and the strengthening of individual and institutional capacities in furtherance of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Established in 1973 with the mission to contribute, through research and capacity building, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems that are a concern of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States.
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Waseda University, Tokyo (早稲田大学)

Waseda is one of Japan's top private, coeducational institutions of higher learning. Founded as a college with three departments under the old Japanese system of higher education, it has grown to become a comprehensive university with two senior high schools and a School of Art and Architecture. In the year 2007, Waseda University celebrated the 125th anniversary of its founding by Shigenobu Okuma, scholar and government leader.
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