This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Tohoku University

東北大学
Motto	実学尊重の精神 (Practice-Oriented Research and Education)
Type	Public (National)
Established	June 22, 1907
Endowment	US$1.3 billion (JP¥120,138 billion)
President	Hideo Ohno
Administrative staff	5,756
Undergraduates	11,094
Postgraduates	7,704
Other students	1,346 (international students)
Location	Sendai , Miyagi , Japan
Campus	Urban, 2.5 km²
Athletics	-- varsity teams
Colors	Purple
Affiliations	APRU, AEARU, HeKKSaGOn, T.I.M.E., RENKEI
Website	www.tohoku.ac.jp

Tohoku University (東北大学 (東北帝國大學 prior to 1945), Tōhoku daigaku), abbreviated to Tohokudai (東北大, Tōhokudai), located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan, is a Japanese national university. It was the third Imperial University in Japan and is one of the National Seven Universities. It is considered one of the most prestigious universities in Japan, and one of the top fifty universities in the world.^[1][2]

In 2016, Tohoku University had 10 faculties, 16 graduate schools and 6 research institutes, with a total enrollment of 17,885 students.^[3] The university's three core values are "Research First (研究第一主義)," "Open-Doors (門戸開放)," and "Practice-Oriented Research and Education (実学尊重)."

History[edit]

Tohoku University (Katahira campus Main Gate)

The origin of the university was Meirin-yokendo (明倫養賢堂, Meirin yōkendō), which was founded as a medical school in Sendai in 1736. It was reorganized a few times. Later it became Sendai Medical College (仙台医学専門学校, Sendai igaku senmon gakkō); this was the forerunner of the medical department of the university.

On June 22, 1907, the university was established under the name Tohoku Imperial University (東北帝國大學, Tōhoku teikoku daigaku) by the Meiji government as the third Imperial University of Japan, following the Tokyo Imperial University (1877) and the Kyoto Imperial University (1897). From its start, it has advocated "Open-door" policies—it was the first university in Japan to accept female students (in 1913)^[4] and foreign students.

In September 1907, it set up the faculty of Agriculture in Sapporo; the Sapporo Agricultural College (札幌農學校, Sapporo nō gakkō).

It set up the Science Department in 1911, and the Medical Department (formerly the Sendai Medical College) 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.^[5]

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.^[5]

2011 Tōhoku earthquake[edit]

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.^[6]

The Aobayama, Katahira, Amamiya, and Kawauchi campuses are all at least 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) 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[edit]

Kawauchi

Aobayama

Katahira

Seiryo

Campus locations

Principal four campuses are in the Sendai City, Japan;

• Katahira (片平, Katahira)
  

Administration Unit. and Principal institutes

• Kawauchi (川内, Kawauchi)
  

North-Kawauchi; The freshmen and sophomore of all undergraduates

South-Kawauchi; Law, Education, Economics, Letters

• Seiryo (星陵, Seiryō)
  

Medicine, Dentistry

• Aobayama (青葉山, Aobayama)
  

Science, Engineering, Pharmacy, Agriculture

Amamiya campus and some institutes transferred to the new extension at Aobayama campus in April 2017[1].

Organization[edit]

Graduate School of Engineering (Research Lab Complex)

The University's Research Center for Prediction of Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions is represented on the national Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction.^[7]

Research institutes[edit]

• 
  Research Institute of Electrical Communication (電気通信研究所, 通研, Denki Tsūshin Kenkyūsjo, Tsūken)^[8]
  


• Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (加齢医学研究所, Karei Igaku Kenkyūjo)^[9]
  


• Institute of Fluid Science (流体科学研究所, Ryūtai Kagaku Kenkyūsyo)^[10]
  


• 
  Institute for Materials Research,IMR (金属材料研究所, 金研, Kinzoku Zairyō Kenkyūsjo, Kinken)^[11]
  

National Collaborative Research Institute

• Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials (多元物質科学研究所, Tagen Busshitsu Kagaku Kenkyūjo)^[12]
  


• International Research Institute of Disaster Science (災害科学国際研究所, Saigai Kagaku Kokusai Kenkyūjo)^[13]
  

Centers and facilities[edit]

The 21st Century Center Of Excellence Programs[edit]

Rankings and reputation[edit]

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[edit]

The university has been ranked 6th in 2009 and 7th in 2010 in the ranking "Truly Strong Universities" by Toyo Keizai.^[14] In another ranking, Japanese prep school Kawaijuku ranked Tohoku as the 5th best university in Japan.^[15]

According to 2011 QS World University Rankings^[32] 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 (in 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings parted ways to produce separate rankings).

It was also ranked 49th worldwide according to the Global University Ranking in 2009.^[33]

Research performance[edit]

Tohoku is one of the top research institutions in Japan. According to Thomson Reuters, Tohoku is the 4th best research university in Japan.^[16] Its research excellence is especially distinctive in Materials Science (1st in Japan, 3rd in the world), Physics (2nd in Japan, 10th in the world), Pharmacology & Toxicology (3rd in Japan, 64th in the world) and Chemistry (6th in Japan, 20th in the world).^[34]

Weekly Diamond also reported that Tohoku has the 11th highest research standard in Japan in terms of research funding per researchers in COE Program.^[35] In the same article, it's also ranked 9th in terms of the quality of education by GP funds per student.

In addition, Nikkei Shimbun　on 2004/2/16 surveyed about the research standards in Engineering studies based on Thomson Reuters, Grants in Aid for Scientific Research and questionnaires to heads of 93 leading Japanese Research Centers, and Tohoku was placed 3rd (research planning ability 9th//informative ability of research outcome 2nd/ability of business-academia collaboration 2nd) in this ranking.^[36]

According to the Qs World university rankings　on 2012/9 surveyed about the general standards in Engineering&Technology field, Tohoku university was placed 56th (world), 5th(national).^[37]

As Tohoku University has been emphasizing 'practical' research, Tohoku received the top place for its number of patents accepted (324) during 2009 among Japanese Universities.^[38]

Graduate school rankings[edit]

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.^[39]

Eduniversal ranked Tohoku Business school as 6th in the rankings of "Excellent Business Schools nationally strong and/or with continental links " in Japan.^[40]

Alumni rankings[edit]

According to the Weekly Economist's 2010 rankings, graduates from Tohoku have the 21st best employment rate in 400 major companies in Japan.^[41]

Mines ParisTech : Professional Ranking World Universities 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.^[2]

Popularity and selectivity[edit]

Tohoku is one of the most selective universities in Japan. Its entrance difficulty is usually considered as one of the top in Japan.^[42][43]

People[edit]

Successive presidents[edit]

Akihisa Inoue (left) talked with James P. Zumwalt (chargé d'affaires) and Ann Kambara at Tohoku University in 2009.

Notable people associated with Tohoku University[edit]

• 
  Toshitada Doi, digital audio pioneer, pet robot Aibo pioneer


• 
  Masayoshi Esashi (江刺 正喜), an engineer. He is the global authority of Microelectromechanical systems.


• 
  Ben Goto (五島 勉), writer


• 
  Kotaro Honda (本多 光太郎), material scientist, famous due to KS steel
  


• 
  Reizan Ido (井土 霊山), a journalist, writer, poet, and liberal activist. He was involved in Freedom and People's Rights Movement
  


• 
  Sumio Iijima (飯島 澄男), discovered Carbon nanotube
  


• 
  Fumihiko Imamura, NHK natural disaster expert after 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami^[44]
  


• 
  Shizuo Kakutani (角谷 静夫), mathematician and creator of the Kakutani fixed-point theorem
  


• 
  Yasumasa Kanada (金田 康正), a mathematician most known for his numerous world records over the past two decades for calculating digits of π.


• 
  Nobuhiko Kawamoto (川本 信彦), was the CEO of Honda Motor until 1995.


• 
  Ryuta Kawashima (川島 隆太), neuroscientist, currently resident professor, the supervisor of Nintendo DS gamesofts; "Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!" and "Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain?"


• 
  Morio Kita (北 杜夫), a novelist


• 
  Yuichi Kodama (児玉 裕一), a video director


• 
  Lu Xun (魯迅), one of the most famous writers in China


• 
  Fujio Masuoka (舛岡 富士雄), developer of Flash Memory
  


• 
  Jun-Ichi Nishizawa (西澤 潤一), engineer known for his invention of optical communication systems (including optical fiber, laser diode etc.), PIN diode and SIT/SITh.


• 
  Kazumasa Oda (小田 和正), one of the most famous musicians in Japan.


• 
  Tsutomu Ōhashi (大橋 力), a Japanese artist and scientist


• 
  Hideaki Sena (瀬名 秀明), a SF writer


• 
  Masatoshi Shima (嶋 正利), invented CPU Intel 4004
  


• 
  Kensaku Shimaki (島木 健作), a writer in Shōwa period in Japan.


• 
  Chūsei Sone, film director


• 
  Su Buqing (蘇歩青), Chinese mathematician and former president of Fudan University
  


• 
  Shigeo Sasaki (佐々木 重夫), professor emeritus and mathematician who introduced the Sasaki manifold
  


• 
  Susumu Satomi (里見進), Surgeon and president of Tohoku University


• 
  Kenji Suzuki (鈴木 健二), an announcer of the NHK
  


• 
  Koichi Tanaka (田中 耕一), winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
  


• 
  Hirofumi Uzawa (宇沢 弘文), an economist


• 
  Shintaro Uda (宇田 新太郎), inventor of the Yagi-Uda antenna 1926, The ubiquitous television antenna.


• 
  Hidetsugu Yagi (八木 秀次), Professor of Shintaro Uda and collaborator in the invention of the Yagi-Uda antenna 1926.


• 
  Chinggeltei (1924–2013), Mongolist, former vice-rector of Inner Mongolia University^[45]
  


• 
  Morio Kasai (1922-2008), surgeon who developed the Kasai procedure for biliary atresia^[46]
  

See also[edit]

• Tohoku Mathematical Journal


• Institute for Materials Research


• Sendai


• List of National Treasures of Japan (writings)

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tohoku University.

• Tohoku University


• Annual review


• Links

Coordinates: 38°15′15″N 140°52′25″E / 38.25417°N 140.87361°E / 38.25417; 140.87361