University of Tokyo

Founded 1877. Japan's first imperial university, alma mater of 17 prime ministers.

Overview

Tokyo Imperial University opened in the Meiji era as Japan's first national university, merging government schools of medicine, law, and letters. Its Law Faculty became the elite training ground of the state; 17 prime ministers and much of the bureaucratic class graduated here. The red-brick Yasuda Auditorium survived earthquakes and war to anchor the Hongu campus. Research spans the universe at the Kavli institute for physics and mathematics. Akutagawa and Kawabata, giants of modern Japanese letters, both studied here. The May festival and falling ginkgo leaves set campus rhythm.