is a national research university in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Chartered in October 1973 as Japan's first with the Tokyo University of Education as its parent institution, it traces its origins to the first normal school in Japan, established in Tokyo in 1872, which gives it one of the oldest institutional lineages of any Japanese university. It is one of the pre-war government-established () universities and, together with Hiroshima University, one of the two successors of the former "universities of literature and science" ().
The university has been selected as a "Top Type" (Type A) institution under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Super Global University program and was designated a designated national university corporation in 2020.
The university comprises ten undergraduate schools subdivided into colleges, an additional school located overseas, and graduate programs organized under three academic gateways, with around 16,500 students. The main Tsukuba campus covers 258 hectares (636 acres), making it the second-largest single university campus in Japan. A branch campus in Bunkyō, Tokyo, offers evening graduate programs for working adults and administers the university's eleven laboratory (attached) schools in the Greater Tokyo area. In September 2024 the university opened a school on the campus of the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, the first case of a Japanese university establishing a degree-awarding undergraduate school abroad.
Three Nobel Prize laureates have taught at the university or its predecessor: Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Leo Esaki and Hideki Shirakawa. A fourth laureate, Satoshi Ōmura, studied at the Tokyo University of Education as an auditing student.
Overview
The university as a whole The university's direct forerunner was the , later the Tokyo University of Education, whose origin was Japan's first normal school, established in 1872 (Meiji 5). Because that school was founded partly as a successor to the (Shōheikō), the former shogunal academy, the university's founding is counted among the oldest lineages of Japanese universities. As the Tokyo University of Education's campuses were cramped and dispersed, relocation to Tsukuba Science City, approved by a cabinet decision of 27 August 1963, began to be debated. Disagreements among the faculty councils and the cancellation of entrance examinations amid the student movement further intensified debate over university reform, and in October 1973 the University of Tsukuba was launched as a "new concept university" with the Tokyo University of Education as its parent body.
Besides the Tsukuba campus, the university also administers part of the grounds of the former Tokyo University of Education. On the former head-office site in Ōtsuka, Bunkyō, Tokyo, the Bunkyo School Building of the Tokyo Campus (formerly the "Ōtsuka district") houses the Education Bureau of the Laboratory Schools, which supervises the attached schools in the Greater Tokyo area; the Graduate School of Business Sciences, an evening graduate school for working adults; the law school; and several research centers.
The National Museum of Nature and Science existed as an attached institution of the Tokyo Higher Normal School from 1889 until it regained independence as the Tokyo Museum of Education in 1914. The Tokyo University of Education was itself formed from four schools — the Tokyo University of Literature and Science, the Tokyo Higher Normal School, the Tokyo College of Agricultural Education and the Tokyo College of Physical Education — and after becoming the University of Tsukuba the institution further merged with the University of Library and Information Science in 2002, so that its history draws on that of many different institutions.
Founding principles Under the basic philosophy of an "open university", a "flexible education and research organization" and "new university systems", the university's stated goals are: to pursue internationally outstanding research, both within established disciplines and in fields requiring cooperation across them; to develop autonomous, internationally active graduates through education from the bachelor's to the doctoral level grounded in advanced research; to contribute broadly to society as the core of Tsukuba Science City in cooperation with its research institutions and with industry; to operate as a university open to Asia and the wider world through internationally compatible education, research and exchange; and to lead university reform through collaboration in which faculty and staff each exercise their individuality and diverse abilities.
Education and research The university's campuses are broadly divided between the Tsukuba Campus and the Tokyo Campus. At 2,577,286 m2, the Tsukuba Campus is the second-largest single university campus in Japan, after the Ito Campus of Kyushu University and ahead of Hiroshima University's Higashihiroshima Campus (by total landholdings, the largest belong to Hokkaido University, the University of Tokyo and Kyushu University). Nearly all education and research activity is centered there, while the Tokyo Campus is used mainly for graduate programs for working adults.
A defining feature since its founding has been the separation of the university's research and teaching organizations. It has also never had a separate liberal-arts division (); instead, from the first year students take university-wide general education courses in parallel with specialized courses in their school and college. This "wedge-shaped" curriculum anticipated the 1991 deregulation of Japan's University Establishment Standards.
The medical school was the first in Japan to abolish the traditional division between a two-year premedical course and a four-year specialized course in favor of a six-year integrated medical curriculum, a model subsequently followed by newly established medical universities.
The graduate level consists of three academic gateways (), and the undergraduate level of ten schools. The university also operates several nationwide joint-use research facilities and campus-wide education and research centers.
In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019–2020, the university was placed 401st–450th in the world, 55th in Asia and 8th in Japan.
On 24 January 2019, the university announced a basic policy of not conducting research intended for military use; research funded by domestic or foreign military or defense organizations, or whose results could potentially be diverted to military use, is subject to prior internal review.
Academic culture The university is active in industry–academia collaboration: it had produced 61 spin-off venture companies as of the end of FY2006 (third among Japanese universities), with 8 new university-launched ventures in FY2006 alone (first in Japan).
Since November 2008 the Tsukuba Action Project (T-ACT), adopted under a MEXT student-support "Good Practice" grant, has supported students' independent activities by building a mutual support network among the university, faculty members and students and providing start-up assistance.
History Outline The university was established on the basis of the Tsukuba Research and Academic City Construction Act of 1970 and the National School Establishment Act as amended in 1973 (Act No. 103 of 29 September 1973). Because the university had a distinctive structure without conventional faculties, the amended act contained a chapter, "Chapter 2-2: Organization of the University of Tsukuba", devoted specifically to it.
A national campaign for democratic education comprising sixteen organizations — including the Sōhyō and Chūritsu Rōren labor federations, the Japan Teachers Union, the Japan Scientists' Association and the Japan Association for the Protection of Children — mounted strong opposition to the 1973 bill and demanded its withdrawal.
The Tokyo University of Education, the university's predecessor, was closed at the end of March 1978. In 2002, under an amendment to the National School Establishment Act (Act No. 23 of 2002), the university merged with the University of Library and Information Science.
Timeline October 1970: University of Tsukuba construction office opened. 1 October 1973: University of Tsukuba opened, with the First Cluster of Colleges (Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences), the Medical Specialist Cluster, the College of Physical Education and the university library. 1975: Second Cluster of Colleges (Comparative Culture, Human Sciences, Biological Sciences, Agriculture and Forestry), College of Art and Design, and a master's program in area studies established. 1976: University of Tsukuba Hospital opened. 1977: Third Cluster of Colleges established (Socio-Engineering, Information Sciences, Basic Engineering). 1978: Tokyo University of Education closed; doctoral program in socio-engineering and Junior College of Medical Technology established. 1980–1981: Doctoral programs in medicine (1980) and engineering (1981) established. 1983: College of International Relations established (Third Cluster). 1985: College of Japanese Language and Culture established (Second Cluster). 1 April 1989: Graduate School of Systems Management (GSSM), an evening MBA program for working adults, established at the Ōtsuka campus. 1990: Evening graduate program in corporate law added at Ōtsuka. 1991: College of Engineering Systems established. 1994: College of Agriculture and Forestry renamed College of Agro-Biological Resources. 1995: College of International Relations reorganized as the College of International Studies. 1996: Doctoral program in corporate sciences added at Ōtsuka. 1998: College of Basic Engineering reorganized; working-adult graduate programs at Ōtsuka reorganized into the independent Graduate School of Business Sciences. 1 October 2002: Merger with the University of Library and Information Science; Kasuga campus, College of Library and Information Science and Graduate School of Library, Information and Media Studies established. The Medical Specialist Cluster was reorganized into the College of Medicine and the College of Nursing and Medical Sciences, and the junior college ceased recruiting. March–April 2004: University of Library and Information Science formally closed; National University Corporation University of Tsukuba inaugurated (1 April). 2005: Akihabara district of the Tokyo Campus established; professional graduate programs opened (law school and the MBA Program in International Business); the Ōtsuka campus renamed the Ōtsuka district of the Tokyo Campus; a discounted circulating campus bus service operated by Kanto Railway introduced. March 2006: Junior College of Medical Technology abolished. April 2007: Undergraduate organization reorganized from 7 clusters (including 4 specialist clusters) and 15 colleges into 9 schools (including 2 specialist schools) and 23 colleges. 10 December 2010: Statue of Kanō Jigorō (by Fumio Asakura) unveiled in front of the University Hall. 11 March 2011: Damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake; damage totaled some 7 billion yen. On 30 September, the Bunkyo School Building of the Tokyo Campus opened following redevelopment of the former Ōtsuka district. April 2017: Mountain Science Center established, integrating the Sugadaira Montane Research Center with the university forests. October 2019: Data science made a required subject for all undergraduates entering from 2019. 1 April 2020: Graduate education moved to a degree-program system (3 academic gateways, 6 research groups); pre-existing graduate schools remain for continuing students. On 15 October, designated a designated national university corporation. April 2021: First intake of the School of Comprehensive Studies, established the previous year.