Tokyo Institute of Technology

Not to be confused with Tokyo University of Technology.

Tokyo Institute of Technology (東京工業大学, Tōkyō Kōgyō Daigaku, official abbreviations Tokyo Tech, Tokodai or informally TITech, TIT)^[1] is a national research university located in Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. Tokyo Tech is the largest institution for higher education in Japan dedicated to science and technology, one of first five Designated National University and selected as a Top Type university of Top Global University Project by the Japanese government.

Tokyo Institute of Technology

東京工業大学
Motto	Jidai o tsukuru chi, waza, kokorozashi, wa no rikōjin (時代を創る知・技・志・和の理工人)
Motto in English	Engineers of the Knowledge, Technology and Passion that Change our World.
Type	Public (National)
Established	1881
President	Kazuya Masu
Academic staff	1,324
Undergraduates	4,940
Postgraduates	5,096
Location	Meguro , Tokyo , Japan
Campus	Urban/rural
Colours	Royal Blue (DIC-641)
Mascot	None
Website	http://www.titech.ac.jp/

Tokyo Tech's main campus is located at Ōokayama on the boundary of Meguro and Ota, with its main entrance facing the Ōokayama Station. Other campuses are located in Suzukakedai and Tamachi. Tokyo Tech is organised into 6 schools, within which there are over 40 departments and research centres.^[2] Tokyo Tech enrolled 4,734 undergraduates and 1,464 graduate students for 2015–2016.^[3] It employs around 1,100 faculty members. Tokyo Institute of Technology produced a Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry Hideki Shirakawa.

History

Foundation and early years (1881–1922)

Tokyo Institute of Technology was founded by the government of Japan as the Tokyo Vocational School on May 26, 1881,^[4] 14 years after the Meiji Restoration. To accomplish the quick catch-up to the West, the government expected this school to cultivate new modernized craftsmen and engineers. In 1890, it was renamed Tokyo Technical School. In 1901, it changed name to Tokyo Higher Technical School.

Great Kantō earthquake and World War II (1923–1945)

In early days, the school was located in Kuramae, the eastern area of the Greater Tokyo Area, where many craftsmens' workshops had been since the old Shōgun's era. The buildings in Kuramae campus were destroyed by the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. In the following year, the Tokyo Higher Technical School moved from Kuramae to the present site in Ookayama, a south suburb of the Greater Tokyo Area. In 1929, the school became Tokyo University of Engineering, later renamed to Tokyo Institute of Technology around 1946,^[5] gaining a status of national university, which allowed the university to award degrees. The university had the Research Laboratory of Building Materials in 1934, and five years later, the Research Laboratory of Resources Utilisation and the Research Laboratory of Precision Machinery were constructed. The Research Laboratory of Ceramic Industry was made in 1943, and one year before World War Two ended, the Research Laboratory of Fuel Science and the Research Laboratory of Electronics were founded.

Post-War Era (1946–present)

After World War II, the new education system was promulgated in 1949 with the National School Establishment Law, and Tokyo Institute of Technology was reorganized. Many three-year courses were turned into four-year courses with the start of the School of Engineering this year. The university started graduate programmes in engineering in 1953. In the following year, the six research laboratories were integrated and reorganised into four new labs:^[6] the Research Laboratory of Building Materials, the Research Laboratory of Resources Utilization, the Precision and Intelligence Laboratory and the Research Laboratory of Ceramic Industry, and the School of Engineering was renamed the School of Science and Engineering.

Throughout the post-war reconstruction of the 1950s, the high economic growth era of the 1960s, and the aggressive economic era marching to the Bubble Economy of the 1980s, TIT kept providing Japan its leading engineers, researchers, and business persons. Since April 2004, it has been semi-privatized into the National University Incorporation of Tokyo Institute of Technology under a new law^[7] which applied to all national universities.

Operating the world-class supercomputer Tsubame 2.0,^[8] and making a breakthrough in high-temperature superconductivity, Tokyo Tech is a major centre for supercomputing technology and condensed matter research in the world.

In 2011, it celebrated the 130th anniversary of its founding.^[9] In 2014, it joined the edX consortium and formed the Online Education Development Office (OEDO) ^[10] to create MOOCS, which are hosted on the edX website.^[11]

In its 130 years, Tokyo Tech has provided scientific researchers, engineers and many social leaders, including Naoto Kan who is a former prime minister.

Campuses

 

The main building of Ookayama Campus

Tokyo Tech has three campuses, Ōokayama campus in Ōokayama Meguro as the main campus, Tamachi campus in Shibaura and Suzukakedai campus, located in Nagatsuta, Midori-ku in Yokohama.

• Ōokayama campus
• Tamachi campus
• Suzukakedai campus

Organization

Schools and departments

 

The Centennial Hall in Ōokayama campus, designed by the renowned architect Kazuo Shinohara, professor at Tokodai

TokyoTech comprises 6 schools, a number of departments and Institute for Liberal Arts.^[12]

• School of Science (ja)
  • Department of Mathematics
  • Department of Physics
  • Department of Chemistry
  • Department of Earth and Planetary Science
• School of Engineering (ja)
  • Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • Department of Systems and Control Engineering
  • Department of Electrical and Electric Engineering
  • Department of Information and Communication Engineering
  • Department of Industrial Engineering and Economics
• School of Life Science and Technology (ja)
  • Department of Life Science and Technology
• School of Computing (ja)
  • Department of Mathematical and Computing Science
  • Department of Computer Science
• School of Environment and Society (ja)
  • Department of Architecture and Building Engineering
  • Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Department of Transdisciplinary Science and Engineering
  • Department of Social and Human Sciences
  • Technology Innovation Management / Department of Innovation Science
• Institute for Liberal Arts

Research laboratories

• Chemical Resources Laboratory
• Precision and Intelligence Laboratory
• Materials and Structures Laboratory
• Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors
• Quantum Nano Electronics Research Centre^[13]
• Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI)

Centers

Politics and social sciences

• Centre for Research in Advanced Financial Technology (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
• Precision and Intelligence Laboratory (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
• Solutions Research Laboratory
• Integrated Research Institute
• Global Edge Institute (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
• Productive Leader Incubation Platform
• Academy for Global Leadership
• Centre for Research and Development of Educational Technology (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
• Research Centre for Educational Facilities
• Creative Research Laboratory
• Research Centre for the Science of Institutional Management of Technology
• Collaboration Centre for Design and Manufacturing (CODAMA)
• Centre for Agent-Based Social Systems Sciences (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
• Foreign Language Research and Teaching Centre
• Centre for the Study of World Civilisations
• Asia-Africa Biology Research Centre
• Centre for CompView Research and Education
• Career Advancement Professional School
• Organization for Life Design and Engineering
• Centre for Liberal Arts

Engineering and computing

• Materials and Structure Laboratory (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
• Frontier Research Centre
• Imaging Science and Engineering Laboratory
• Global Scientific Information and Computing Centre
• Structural Engineering Research Centre
• Super-Mechano Systems R&D Centre
• Centre for Photonic Nano-Device Integrated Engineering
• Photovoltaics Research Center
• Inter-departmental organisation for Informatics

Chemistry and life sciences

• Chemical Resources Laboratory
• Research Centre for Carbon Recycling and Energy
• Centre for Biological Resources and Informatics
• International Research Centre of Macromolecular Science
• Bio-Frontier Research Centre
• Emerging Nanomaterial Research Centre
• Centre for Molecular Science and Technology
• The Osmotic Power Research Centre

Physics and astronomy

• Volcanic Fluid Research Centre (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
• Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
• Research Centre for Low Temperature Physics
• Quantum Nanoelectronics Research Centre
• Centre for Urban Earthquake Engineering
• Research Centre for Nanometer-Scale Quantum Physics
• Research Centre for the Evolving Earth and Planets
• Centre for Research into Innovative Nuclear Energy Systems

Other facilities

• Asia-Oceania Top University League on Engineering
• Tokyo Tech Archive Initiative
• Health Service Centres
• TITECH Earth Database Centre
• Tokyo Tech Front
• International Student Centre
• Inter-departmental Organization for Environment and Energy
• ICE Cube Centre

Academics

Libraries

The main library is the Tokyo Institute of Technology Library in Ookayama. It is the home of Japan's largest science and technology library. The library was founded in 1882,^[14] and it lost nearly 28,000 books during the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. Moved to Ookayama in 1936, it has been the national science and technology library of Japan.

1,200 students and staff visit the library each day.
It has 674,000 books and 2,500 journals, including 1,600 foreign academic journals; the number of international research collections is the largest in Japan. It provides around 7,000 registered electronic journals each year. The library is therefore recognised for the outstanding national and international importance and awarded 'Centre of foreign journals' by the government of Japan. Renewal construction of the library was completed in July 2011.

International graduate programmes

Tokyo Tech runs intensive programmes for obtaining master degree or PhD. Called the Tokyo Tech's International Graduate Program, the programmes are targeted at international students of high academic potential who are not Japanese speakers. Lectures and seminars are given in English mainly by Tokyo Tech's faculty members.^[15] Programme starting dates are October or April. Public fundings for these courses are also available; those students who have academic excellence may apply for scholarships from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

Academic rankings

University rankings

WE [ja] National^[16]	Employment	2
NBP Greater Tokyo^[17]^[18]	Reputation	6
QS Asia (Asian Ranking version)^[19]	General	9
ARWU Asia^[20]	Research	10–18
THE World^[21]	General	112
QS World^[22]	General	57
ARWU World^[20]	Research	101–150
ENSMP World^[23]	Alumni	92

Program rankings

Natural Sciences & Technology
Engineering
Kawaijuku [ja] National^[24]	General	2~3
QS World^[25]	General	19
MATERIALS SCIENCE
T.Reuters National^[26]	Research	5
T.Reuters World^[26]	Research	24
PHYSICS
T.Reuters National^[26]	Research	5
T.Reuters World^[26]	Research	31
CHEMISTRY
T.Reuters National^[26]	Research	5
T.Reuters World^[26]	Research	22
MATHEMATICS
ARWU National^[27]	Research	3
ARWU World^[27]	Research	77–100
* T. Reuters World rankings include non-educational institutions

General rankings

Tokyo Tech has been ranked 2nd among the Japanese universities according to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021.^[30] Tokyo Tech has also ranked 3rd among the best Japanese universities according to QS World University Rankings 2021 ^[31] Tokyo Tech has also been ranked 2nd (national) in 2011 in the field of Engineering "Entrance score ranking of Japanese universities-Department of Engineering" by Score-navi.^[32] In another ranking, Japanese prep school Kawaijuku ranked Tokyo Tech as the 4th best (overall), 2-3rd best in former semester and 1st in latter semester (Department of Engineering) university in Japan (2012).^[33]

According to QS World University Rankings, Tokyo Tech was ranked 3rd in Japan and internationally ranked 20th in the field of Engineering and Technology, and 51st in Natural science in 2011.^[34] The university was ranked 31st worldwide according to Global University ranking^[35] and 57th in 2011 according to QS World University Rankings,^[36] It was also ranked 31st worldwide according to the Global University Ranking in 2009.^[35]

Research performance

Tokyo Tech is one of the top research institutions in natural sciences and technology in Japan. According to Thomson Reuters, its research excellence (Pure science only for this information) is especially distinctive in Materials Science (5th in Japan, 24th in the world), Physics (5th in Japan, 31st in the world), and Chemistry (5th in Japan, 22nd in the world).^[37]

Weekly Diamond also reported that Tokyo Tech has the highest research standard in Japan in terms of research fundings per researchers in COE Program.^[38] In the same article, it's also ranked 8th in terms of the quality of education by GP funds per student.

In addition, according to the September 2012 survey by QS World University Rankings about the general standards in Engineering and Technology field, Tokyo Tech was placed 19th (world), 2nd (national).^[39]

The Tsubame 2.0, which is a large-scale supercomputer in Tokyo Tech, was ranked 5th of the world best-performed computer. 1st in the world as university's owned one, this supercomputer is used for simulation related to the complex systems such as the dynamics of planets or financial systems.

As Tokyo Tech has been emphasizing on 'practical' research, Tokyo Tech got the 2nd place at the number of patents accepted (284) during 2009 among Japanese Universities.^[40]

Alumni rankings

Alumni of Tokyo Tech enjoy their good success in Japanese industries. According to (Truly Strong Universities -TSU), the alumni's of Tokyo Tech has been acquiring the highest (1st) employment rate within Japan.^[41]

According to the Weekly Economist's 2010 rankings and the PRESIDENT's article on 2006/10/16, graduates from Tokyo Tech have the 2nd best employment rate in 400 major companies, and the average graduate salary is the 9th best in Japan.^[42][43] École des Mines de Paris ranks Tokyo Tech as 92nd in the world in 2011 in terms of the number of alumni listed among CEOs in the 500 largest worldwide companies.^[44] Also, according to the article of The New York Times- Universities with the most employable students ranking 2012, Tokyo Tech ranked 14th place in the world (2nd in Asia, 1st in Japan).^[45]

Popularity and selectivity

Tokyo Tech is one of the most selective universities in Japan. Its entrance difficulty is usually considered one of the most difficult in Japan.^[46][47]

Evaluation from Business World

The university ranking of the ratio of "president and chief executive officer of listed company"

	Ranking
All universities in Japan	7th^[48] out of all the 744^[49] universities which existed as of 2006
Source	2006 Survey^[48] by Weekly Diamond 〈ja〉 on the ranking of the universities which produced the high ratio of the graduates who hold the position of "president and chief executive officer of listed company" to all the graduates of each university

The university ranking according to the ratio of the number of the officers & managers produced by each university to the number of graduates

	Ranking
All universities in Japan	39th^[50] out of all the 778^[51] universities which existed as of 2010
Source	2010 Survey^[50] by Weekly Economist 〈ja〉 on the ranking of universities according to the ratio of the number of the officers & managers produced by each university to the number of graduates

Ranking of the evaluation by Personnel Departments of Leading Companies in Japan

	Ranking
Kantō & Kōshin'etsu region	7th^[52] out of 262^[53] universities which existed in Kantō & Kōshin'etsu region as of 2020
Japan	7th^[54] (out of 781^[55] universities which existed in Japan as of 2020)
Source	2020 Nikkei Survey^[52] to all listed (3,714^[56]) and leading unlisted (1,100), totally 4,814 companies^[52]

Wildlife

As of 2009, there is a large population of rose-ringed parakeets residing at the main campus of the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Ookayama.^[57][58][59]

Gallery

•  
  Suzukakedai campus at night
•  
  Suzukakedai campus at night
•  
  Suzukakedai campus at night

Alumni and faculty

Main article: List of Tokyo Institute of Technology people

See also

• Ken Mogi
• Research Institutes at Tokyo Tech^[60]
• Supercomputing in Japan

References

1. {{[1]Tokyo Tech Name}}
2. the number of undergraduates and departments of Tokyo Tech September 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine facts and stats
3. Data Book 2015-2016, by the TIT
4. "The history of the Tokyo Institute of Technology" http://www.titech.ac.jp/english/about/overview/history.html
5. "東工大の英語名称の変遷".
6. "歴史と沿革".
7. . www.mext.go.jp. Archived from the original on December 5, 2004.
8. Japan reclaims no.1 spot on TOP500 list of world's fastest supercomputers Archived July 1, 2012, at archive.today International Business Times
9. "Tokyo Institute of Technology – The 130th Anniversary". 130th.titech.ac.jp. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
10. "Tokyo Tech Online Education Development Office" https://www.facebook.com/oedotitech
11. "Tokyo Institute of Technology Joins edX MOOCs Consortium founded by MIT and Harvard University," http://www.titech.ac.jp/english/news/2014/029068.html
12. "Tokyo Institute of Technology — Schools, Departments, and Institute for Liberal Arts". educ.titech.ac.jp. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
13. "Welcome to QNERC". Pe.titech.ac.jp. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
14. . Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved July 18, 2011. About us, Tokyo Institute of Technology Library
15. . Gakumu.titech.ac.jp. Archived from the original on November 26, 2011. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
16. "Employment rate in 400 major companies rankings" (in Japanese). Weekly Economist. 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
17. "Nikkei BP Brand rankings of Japanese universities" (in Japanese). Nikkei Business Publications. 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
18. "Nikkei BP Brand rankings of Japanese universities" (in Japanese). Nikkei Business Publications. 2009. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
19. "QS Asian University Rankings". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
20. "Academic Ranking of World Universities". Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
21. "THE World University Rankings". Times Higher Education. 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
22. "QS World University Rankings". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
23. "ENSMP World University Rankings" (PDF). École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris. 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
24. "Kawaijuku japanese universities rankings in Engineering field" (in Japanese). Kawaijuku. 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
25. "QS topuniversities world rankings in Engineering field". Topuniversities. 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
26. "Thomson Reuters 10 Top research institutions by subject in Japan" (in Japanese). Thomson Reuters. 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
27. "ARWU in Mathematics". Shanghai Jiaotong University. 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
28. Asahi Shimbun University rankings 2010 "Publification rankings in Law (Page 4)" (PDF) (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
29. "ARWU in Computer Science". Shanghai Jiaotong University. 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
30. "The Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings 2021". March 8, 2021.
31. "QS World University Rankings, Japan".
32. . Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
33. "Kawaijuku- 2013 rank preview" (PDF).^{[permanent dead link]}
34. "QS Topuniversities in – 2011". Topuniversities.com. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
35. (PDF). globaluniversitiesranking.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 27, 2011. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
36. . Topuniversities. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
37. (in Japanese). Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. (this ranking includes non-educational institutions)
38. "週刊ダイヤモンド" ダイヤモンド社 2010/2/27 http://web.sapmed.ac.jp/kikaku/infomation/0227daiyamondokiji.pdf
39. "QS world university ranking（2012）". topuniversities.com. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
40. (in Japanese) 2009 年国内大学別特許公開件数, Japanese patent office, accessed May 3, 2011
41. "有名企業への就職に強い大学ランキング トップは東京工業大学".
42. "Employment rate in 400 major companies rankings" (in Japanese). Weekly Economist. 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
43. 大学偏差値情報局 (February 22, 1999). "年収偏差値・給料偏差値ランキング（2006・10・16）：稼げる大学はどれ？". Hensachi-ranking.seesaa.net. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
44. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 20, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
45. "Global Companies Rank Universities - NYTimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
46. E.g. Yoyogi seminar published Hensachi (the indication showing the entrance difficulties by prep schools) rankings . Archived from the original on April 22, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
47. Japanese journalist Kiyoshi Shimano ranks its entrance difficulty as SA (most selective/out of 10 scales) in Japan. 危ない大学・消える大学 2012年版 (in Japanese). YELL books. 2011. ASIN 4753930181.
48. Weekly Diamond The ranking of the universities which produced the high ratio of the graduates who hold the position of "president and chief executive officer of listed company" to all the graduates of each university(in Japanese)
49. The number of universities and students｜National Universities Association(in Japanese)
50. Is it a story of the past that graduates from famous universities can easily move up the career ladder? / RECRUIT AGENT(in Japanese)
51. University reform reference materials / Cabinet Secretariat(in Japanese)
52. Image held by human resources personnel of companies of Japan / Yokohama National University ranked 1st in Kantō & Kōshin'etsu region / Valuation from the ex-students already employed / The Nikkei・Nikkei HR Survey　2020-06-04 17:27
53. The number of universities by prefecture
54. Survey on the image seen from human resources personnel：Ranking of the ability to get jobs｜Nikkei HR 2020.06.03　release
55. The number of universities in Japan is 781 as of April 1, 2020. About 80% are private universities.｜Ōbun Sha
56. Number of listed companies & listed shares of stock｜JPX
57. Gardener, Alice Feral parakeets March 19, 2009 Japan Times Retrieved March 2, 2017
58. Brooks, Raglan Tokyo's Got a Parrot Problem November-December 2014 Auburn Retrieved March 2, 2017
59. Kail, Ellyn EERIE PHOTOS OF FERAL PARROTS IN TOKYO August 22, 2014 Featureshoot Retrieved March 2, 2017
60. . Titech.ac.jp. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2012.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tokyo Institute of Technology.

• The Tokyo Tech official web site

35°36′18″N 139°41′2″E / 35.60500°N 139.68389°E / 35.60500; 139.68389