TheImperial Universities (Kyūjitai: 帝國大學,Shinjitai: 帝国大学,teikoku daigaku; abbr.:帝大teidai) were founded by theEmpire of Japan between 1886 and 1939, seven in Mainland Japan, one inKorea under Japanese rule and one inTaiwan under Japanese rule. These universities were funded by the imperial government until the end ofWorld War II.
The name 'Imperial University' was initially used by what is now theUniversity of Tokyo, the nation's first university. Although it was originally established under its current name, theMeiji government renamed it in 1886. In 1897, when it was decided to establish the nation's second university in Kyoto, the original Imperial University was renamed Tokyo Imperial University. Meanwhile, the newly established university was namedKyoto Imperial University.[1]
Unlike in Europe and North America, modern higher education in Japan mostly originated as national projects. There had been no private universities in Japan until 1920, whenKeio andWaseda were granted university status.[2] Thus, for the majority of its pre-war history, Japan's political, business and academicestablishment predominantly consisted of alumni of the Imperial Universities and universities abroad, which further strengthened the prestige and power of these universities.
Today, these universities are no longer 'imperial', as Japan ceased to be an empire after the loss of World War II, and are often described as the former Imperial Universities (旧帝国大学,kyū-teikoku daigaku; abbr. :旧帝大kyū-teidai). They are viewed as some of the most prestigious in Japan. These former imperial universities are generally perceived as Japan's equivalent of theIvy League in the United States,Golden Triangle in the United Kingdom, and theC9 League in China.[3] The alumni club of these nine imperial universities is called Gakushikai (学士会).[4]
UnlikeTaihoku Imperial University (renamed in 1945 to National Taiwan University) inthen-Japanese Taiwan, theKeijō Imperial University inthen-Japanese Korea was closed by theUnited States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) with U.S. Military Ordinance No. 102.Seoul National University was built by merging nine schools in Seoul and the remaining properties of Keijō Imperial University (Kyŏngsŏng University). The National Taiwan University and Seoul National University are today among the most prestigious universities of Taiwan and Korea.
| Imperial Universities | Successor universities | World university rankings | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | Name | Image | Present-day name | Location | Colors | THE (2025)[5] | ARWU (2024)[6] | QS (2025)[7] |
| 1877 | Imperial University (帝國大學), renamedTōkyō Imperial University (東京帝國大學) in 1897 |  | University of Tokyo (東京大学) | Bunkyō,Tokyo | 28 | 28 | 32 | |
| 1897 | Kyōto Imperial University (京都帝國大學) | Kyoto University (京都大学) | Kyoto,Kyoto | 55 | 45 | 50 | ||
| 1907 | Tōhoku Imperial University (東北帝國大學) |  | Tohoku University (東北大学) | Sendai,Miyagi | 120 | 201-300 | 107 | |
| 1911 | Kyūshū Imperial University (九州帝國大學) |  | Kyushu University (九州大学) | Fukuoka,Fukuoka | 301-350 | 201-300 | 167 | |
| 1918 | Hokkaidō Imperial University (北海道帝國大學) |  | Hokkaido University (北海道大学) | Sapporo,Hokkaidō | 351-400 | 201-300 | 173 | |
| 1924 | Keijō Imperial University (京城帝國大學) |  | Closed in 1946, properties and faculties succeeded bySeoul National University (서울대학교) | Seoul | Closed | 62 (Seoul National University) | 86 (Seoul National University) | 31 (Seoul National University) |
| 1928 | Taihoku Imperial University (臺北帝國大學) |  | National Taiwan University (國立臺灣大學)[8] | Da'an,Taipei | 172 (National Taiwan University) | 201-300 (National Taiwan University) | 68 (National Taiwan University) | |
| 1931 | Ōsaka Imperial University (大阪帝國大學) |  | University of Osaka (大阪大学) | Suita,Osaka | 162 | 201-300 | 86 | |
| 1939 | Nagoya Imperial University (名古屋帝國大學) |  | Nagoya University (名古屋大学) | Nagoya,Aichi | 201-250 | 101-150 | 152 | |
The universities are notable for hostingspecial-rules judo competitions called Nanatei Judo (ja:七帝柔道,Seven Emperors Judo) since 1952.[9] In 1962, the athletic competition expanded under the sponsorship ofHokkaido University, formerly known as the National Athletic Competition of the Seven Universities (全国七大学総合体育大会,zenkoku nana-daigaku sōgō taiiku-taikai), its name was later changed to the Seven Universities Athletic Meet[10][11] in 2002. The competition is commonly called the Competition of the Seven Imperial Universities (七帝戦,shichi-tei sen) or the national athletic meet of the seven former imperial universities (七大戦,Nanadai-sen).[12]
