Hokkaido University


Hokkaido University, or Hokudai, is a Japanese national university in Sapporo, Hokkaido. It was the 5th Imperial University in Japan, which were established to be the nation's finest institutes of higher education or research, and was selected as a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by the Japanese government. The main campus is located in downtown Sapporo, just north of Sapporo Station, and stretches approximately 2.4 kilometers northward. It is considered one of the top universities in Japan.

History

Hokkaido University was founded in 1876 as Sapporo Agricultural College by William S. Clark with the help of five faculty members and a first class size of 24 students. In September 1907, Tohoku University set up the faculty of Agriculture in Sapporo. Tohoku Imperial University ceded the Faculty of Agriculture to Hokkaido Imperial University on April 1, 1918. It was one of nine Imperial Universities. The School of Medicine was established in 1919, at which time the Agricultural College became the Faculty of Agriculture. This was followed by the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Science, and finally in 1947, the Faculty of Law and Literature. The current name of Hokkaido University also came into use in 1947. In 1953, the Graduate School was established.
Since 2004 the university has been incorporated as a National University Corporation under a new law which applies to all national universities. Although the incorporation has led to increased financial independence and autonomy, Hokkaido University is still partially controlled by the Japanese Ministry of Education.
In 2014 the university was selected under the Super Global Universities program that began as an initiative of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe who stated its aim was to help more of Japan's universities rank in the top 100 worldwide. Under the program, it is listed in the top university category or Type A— The Top Type is for world-class universities that have the potential to be ranked in the top 100 in world university rankings. Each Type A university will receive ¥420 million annually until 2023.

Faculties and graduate schools

Faculties

Graduate schools

Postgraduate degree programs in English

The following departments offer postgraduate degrees taught entirely in English
Both international and domestic students may apply for graduate programs taught in English.
In addition, the university offers two four year undergraduate degree programs: the Modern Japanese Studies Program, and the Integrated Science Program. These two programs are only available to international students.
Competitive scholarships are available for all graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in English degree programs, which range in amount from tuition discounts to full funding.

Institutes

The University's Institute of Seismology and Volcanology was founded in 1998 in collaboration with several seismological observatories around Hokkaido. The institute is represented on the national Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction.
In 2016, the university launched the Hokkaido Summer Institute, a three-month-long program from June to August which offers a variety of classes for both undergraduate and graduate students. Guest lecturers are invited from all over the world to share their expertise for the courses, which usually run for 1–2 weeks and grant students a small amount of academic credit. Both Japanese and foreign students participate in this unique program, which is conducted entirely in English.

Campus

Sapporo campus

The main Sapporo campus is located just north of Sapporo Station, in the heart of Sapporo City. The entirety of the campus measures approximately 180 hectares, and houses academic and administrative buildings, research laboratories, student dormitories, and farmland. The main academic buildings are found along a 1.5 kilometer stretch of road that runs from the Main Gate to the Kita 18 Gate, roughly encompassing the distance between Kita-Juni-Jo and Kita 18-jo subway stations on the Namboku Subway Line. A campus-wide bus service runs regular routes between the southern and northern end of the university, although access is restricted to university staff only.
The abundance of accessible green space has continued to be popular not only among students, but also the general public, who can often be seen using the campus area in a similar way to a public park. Walking tours of the campus for interested foreign and domestic tourists are provided by several businesses in Sapporo, although no tour is needed to visit the campus. Fall is an especially popular time for campus visits, with tourists and Sapporo residents flocking to get a view of the golden ginkgo trees that line Ginkgo Avenue.

Hakodate campus

The campus is located in Hakodate, a city located in the southern part of Hokkaidō. The Faculty and Graduate School of Fisheries Science are located there. However, students of Fisheries Science start their education at the Sapporo campus in order to complete three semesters of compulsory liberal arts education courses, and move to the Hakodate campus from the second semester of their sophomore year. As the minimum requirement to study at the Hakodate campus is only one year of a four-year bachelor's program, the turn-over rate of students entering and leaving the Hakodate campus is fairly high. To provide students in the Faculty and Graduate School of Fisheries Science with practical hands-on experience, the university has two fully operational research vessels, the Oshoru Maru and the Ushio Maru, based in nearby Hakodate harbor. Graduate students and professors also use these vessels to carry out their research.

Overseas satellite offices

In order to raise awareness of the university internationally, as of June 2018 Hokkaido University was operating eight satellite offices worldwide. After opening its first overseas satellite office in Seoul, South Korea, Hokkaido University has also established satellite offices in Helsinki, Beijing, Lusaka, Bandung, Quezon City, Kamphaeng Saen, and a special China Office in Beijing. Interested parties can not only obtain information regarding the university at these offices, but prospective students can also take university entrance exams there, a procedure which previously was only offered in Japan.

Educational philosophy

Hokkaido University is one of the most prestigious universities in Japan. It can be seen in the several rankings such as shown below.

General rankings

In 2017, the CWTS Leiden Ranking ranked them at 120th in the world and 6th in Japan. In 2018, QS World University Rankings ranked Hokkaido University at 122th in the world.
In 2019, the Times Higher Education Japan ranked them 5th in Japan. Also in that year, they ranked as 6th or 7th in Japan according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, and between 151st and 200th in the world.
In 2013, their highest score in QS Ranking was for Faculty Student Score. Their lowest was for International Faculty Score. In an effort to boost their International Faculty Score, Hokkaido has recently been selected to be part of Japan's Super Global Universities Program. This program provides special funding to hire international faculty.

Research performance

According to Thomson Reuters, Hokkaido is the 6th best research university in Japan. Its research standard is especially high in Materials Science, Chemistry, and Biology & Biochemistry.
Weekly Diamond reported that Hokkaido has the 10th highest research standard in Japan in terms of research funding per researchers in the :ja:グローバルCOEプログラム|COE Program.
According to the QS World university rankings in September 2012, Hokkaido University was placed 135th and 6th for general standards in engineering and technology.
It also has a good research standard in Economics, as RePec ranked Hokkaido as the 16th best Economics research university in Jan 2011.
The university received attention in 2010 when Professor Akira Suzuki won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry jointly with Richard F. Heck and Ei-ichi Negishi.

Alumni rankings

According to the :ja:エコノミスト |Weekly Economist's 2010 rankings, undergraduates from Hokkaido have the 49th best employment rate in 400 major companies in Japan.

Graduate school rankings

Hokkaido Law School was ranked 6th in 2010 in the passing rate of Japanese Bar Examination.
Eduniversal ranked Hokkaido as 2nd in the rankings of "Excellent Business Schools nationally strong and/or with continental links " in Japan.

Popularity and selectivity

Hokkaido is one of the most selective universities in Japan. Its entrance difficulty is usually considered as one of the top in Japan.

Notable alumni