Tohoku University


Tohoku University, or Tohokudai, located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan, is a Japanese national university. It was the third Imperial University in Japan, the top three Designated National University along with the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University and selected as a Top Type university of Top Global University Project by the Japanese government. In 2020, Times Higher Education ranked Tohoku University in the 1st place on Japan university ranking.
In 2016, Tohoku University had 10 faculties, 16 graduate schools and 6 research institutes, with a total enrollment of 17,885 students. The university's three core values are "Research First," "Open-Doors," and "Practice-Oriented Research and Education."

History

On June 22, 1907, the university was established under the name Tohoku Imperial University by the Meiji government as the third Imperial University of Japan, following the Tokyo Imperial University and the Kyoto Imperial University. From its start, it has advocated "Open-door" policies—it was the first university in Japan to accept female students and foreign students.
In September 1907, it set up the faculty of Agriculture in Sapporo; the Sapporo Agricultural College.
It set up the Science Department in 1911, and the Medical Department in 1915. In 1918 it ceded the Faculty of Agriculture to Hokkaido Imperial University. It subsequently launched Faculties of Engineering in 1919, and Law and Literature in 1922.
In 1947 the university assumed its current name, Tohoku University, acquired a new Faculty of Agriculture. In 1949, the Faculty of Law and Literature was split to form new faculties of Law, Literature, and Economics. A Faculty of Education was added in 1949, Dentistry in 1965, and Pharmacy in 1972. Tohoku has been a national university corporation since April 2004.

2011 Tōhoku earthquake

Subsequent to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the university was declared closed until further notice, but with a tentative re-opening date of the end of the following April.
The Aobayama, Katahira, Amamiya, and Kawauchi campuses are all at least from the ocean, towards the mountains, and therefore suffered no damage resulting from the tsunami. No deaths or serious injuries within the faculty and student body were reported on campus grounds. However, earthquake damage lead to the closure of 27 buildings and caused millions of dollars of damage to equipment. Classes have resumed normally since early May 2011 and plans for restoring, reinforcing or replacing damaged buildings are underway.
The radiology department has been actively measuring radiation levels throughout the city of Sendai since the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant meltdown, which is about 100 kilometers south. So far no alarming levels of radiation have been detected.

Campuses


Campus locations


Principal four campuses are in the Sendai City, Japan;
Amamiya campus and some institutes transferred to the new extension at Aobayama campus in April 2017 .

Organization

Faculties (10)

University library

Tohoku University Overseas Office

Biomedical Engineering Research Organization

e-learning system

Rankings and reputation

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

General rankings

Tohoku university has been ranked 1st in the 2020 Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings.
According to 2011 QS World University Rankings the university rose to 70th having dropped out of the top 100 in 2010 to 102nd, and having been 97th in the 2009 THE-QS World University Rankings.
It was also ranked 49th worldwide according to the Global University Ranking in 2009.

Research performance

Tohoku is one of the top research institutions in Japan. According to Thomson Reuters, Tohoku is the 4th best research university in Japan. Its research excellence is especially distinctive in Materials Science, Physics, Pharmacology & Toxicology and Chemistry.
:ja:週刊ダイヤモンド|Weekly Diamond also reported that Tohoku has the 11th highest research standard in Japan in terms of research funding per researchers in :ja:グローバルCOEプログラム|COE Program. In the same article, it's also ranked 9th in terms of the quality of education by :ja:特色ある大学教育支援プログラム|GP funds per student.
In addition, Nikkei Shimbun　on 2004/2/16 surveyed about the research standards in Engineering studies based on Thomson Reuters, :ja:科学研究費補助金|Grants in Aid for Scientific Research and questionnaires to heads of 93 leading Japanese Research Centers, and Tohoku was placed 3rd in this ranking.
According to the Qs World university rankings　on 2012/9 surveyed about the general standards in Engineering&Technology field, Tohoku university was placed 56th, 5th.
As Tohoku University has been emphasizing 'practical' research, Tohoku received the top place for its number of patents accepted during 2009 among Japanese Universities.

Graduate school rankings

Tohoku Law School is one of the most famous Law schools in Japan, as it was ranked 9th in the passing rate of Japanese Bar Examination in 2010.
Eduniversal ranked Tohoku Business school as 6th in the rankings of "Excellent Business Schools nationally strong and/or with continental links " in Japan.

Alumni rankings

According to the :ja:エコノミスト |Weekly Economist's 2010 rankings, graduates from Tohoku have the 21st best employment rate in 400 major companies in Japan.
ranks Tohoku University as 13th in the world in 2011 in terms of the number of alumni listed among CEOs in the 500 largest worldwide companies.

Popularity and selectivity

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

People

Successive presidents

Notable people associated with Tohoku University

Many world-class celebrities have attended or served at Tohoku University.

Sciences