Imperial Universities

The Gakushi Kaikan, a club for members of the former Imperial Universities in Tokyo

The Imperial Universities (Kyūjitai: 帝國大學, Shinjitai: 帝国大学, teikoku daigaku, abbr.: 帝大 teidai) were founded by the Empire of Japan between 1886 and 1939, seven in Mainland Japan (now Japan), one in Korea under Japanese rule (now the Republic of Korea) and one in Taiwan under Japanese rule (now Taiwan). They were run by the imperial government until the end of World War II.

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, when Keio and Waseda were granted university status. Thus, for the majority of its pre-war history, Japan's political, business and academic establishments predominantly consisted of alumni of the Imperial Universities and universities abroad, which further strengthened the prestige and power of these universities.

Today, these university 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 the Ivy League in the United States, Golden Triangle in the United Kingdom, and the C9 League in China. The alumni club of these nine imperial universities is called Gakushikai (学士会).

Unlike Taihoku Imperial University (renamed in 1945 to National Taiwan University) in then-Japanese Taiwan, the Keijō Imperial University in then-Japanese Korea was closed by the United 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.

Members

Imperial Universities Successor universities
Founded Name Image Present-day name Location Map Colors QS world university rankings (2023)
1877 Imperial University (帝國大學),
renamed Tōkyō Imperial University (東京帝國大學) in 1897
University of Tokyo (東京大学) Bunkyō, Tokyo 35°42′48.39″N 139°45′44.03″E   23
1897 Kyōto Imperial University (京都帝國大學) Kyoto University (京都大学) Kyoto, Kyoto 35°1′33.77″N 135°46′51″E   36
1907 Tōhoku Imperial University (東北帝國大學) Tohoku University (東北大学) Sendai, Miyagi 38°15′14.8″N 140°52′25″E   79
1911 Kyūshū Imperial University (九州帝國大學) Kyushu University (九州大学) Fukuoka, Fukuoka 33°37′21.9″N 130°25′31.1″E   135
1918 Hokkaidō Imperial University (北海道帝國大學) Hokkaido University (北海道大学) Sapporo, Hokkaidō 43°4′16.61″N 141°20′36.89″E   141
1924 Keijō Imperial University (京城帝國大學) Closed in 1946, properties and some faculties succeeded by Seoul National University (서울대학교) Seoul Closed Closed 29 (Seoul National University)
1928 Taihoku Imperial University (臺北帝國大學) National Taiwan University (國立臺灣大學) Da'an, Taipei 25°1′2.45″N 121°32′26.55″E      77
1931 Ōsaka Imperial University (大阪帝國大學) Osaka University (大阪大学) Suita, Osaka 34°49′7.23″N 135°31′26.23″E   68
1939 Nagoya Imperial University (名古屋帝國大學) Nagoya University (名古屋大学) Nagoya, Aichi 35°9′15.8″N 136°57′55.73″E   112

History

Nagoya University Osaka University National Taiwan University Seoul National University Keijō Imperial University Hokkaido University Kyushu University Tohoku University Kyoto University University of Tokyo

Athletic competition

The universities are notable for hosting special-rules judo competitions called Nanatei Judo (ja:七帝柔道, Seven Emperors Judo) since 1952. In 1962, the athletic competition expanded under the sponsorship of Hokkaido University, formerly known as 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 Seven Universities Athletic Meet (国立七大学総合体育大会, kokuritsu nana-daigaku sōgō taiiku-taikai) 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).

See also