The , abbreviated as UOsaka or , is a national

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan. The university traces its roots back to Edo-era institutions Tekijuku (1838) and Kaitokudo (1724), and was officially established in 1931 as the sixth of the

Imperial Universities The were founded by the Empire of Japan between 1886 and 1939, seven in Mainland Japan, one in Korea under Japanese rule and one in Taiwan under Japanese rule. These universities were funded by the imperial government until the end of World War I ...

in Japan, with two faculties:

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

. Following the post-war educational reform, it merged with three pre-war higher schools, reorganizing as a comprehensive university with five faculties: science, medicine, letters, law and economics, and

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

. After the merger with Osaka University of Foreign Studies in 2007, UOsaka became the largest national university in Japan by undergraduate enrollment. The official name of the university in English has been changed from "Osaka University" to "The University of Osaka (UOsaka)" as of April 2025. UOsaka is one of the most productive research institutions in Japan. Numerous prominent scholars and scientists have attended or worked at UOsaka, such as Nobel Laureate in Physics

Hideki Yukawa Hideki Yukawa (; ; 23 January 1907 – 8 September 1981) was a Japanese theoretical physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1949 "for his prediction of the existence of mesons on the basis of theoretical work on nuclear forces". B ...

, manga artist

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

Lasker Award In 1945 Albert Lasker and Mary Woodard Lasker created the Lasker Awards. Every year since then the award has been given to the living person considered to have made the greatest contribution to medical science or who has demonstrated public ser ...

winner Hidesaburō Hanafusa, author Ryōtarō Shiba, and discoverer of

regulatory T cells The regulatory T cells (Tregs or Treg cells), formerly known as suppressor T cells, are a subpopulation of T cells that modulate the immune system, maintain immune tolerance, tolerance to self-antigens, and prevent autoimmune disease. Treg ...

Shimon Sakaguchi is an immunologist and a Distinguished Professor of Osaka University. He is best known for the discovery of regulatory T cells and describing their role in the immune system. This discovery is used in the treatment of cancer and autoimmune dis ...

History

The academic traditions of the University of Osaka reach back to the , an Edo-period school for local citizens founded in 1724, and the , a school of

Rangaku ''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: , ), and by extension , is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Western technology and medicine in the period when the countr ...

for

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

founded by Ogata Kōan in 1838. The spirit of the university's humanities programmes is believed to be intimately rooted in the history of the Kaitokudō, whereas that of the natural and applied sciences is based upon the traditions of the Tekijuku. UOsaka traces its modern origins back the founding of Osaka Prefectural Medical School in downtown Osaka City in 1869. The school was later designated the Osaka Prefectural Medical College with university status by the University Ordinance (Imperial Ordinance No. 388) in 1919. The Medical College merged with the newly founded College of Science to form Osaka Imperial University in 1931. Osaka Imperial University was the sixth imperial university in Japan. Osaka Technical College was incorporated to form the School of Engineering two years later. The entire university was renamed Osaka University in 1947. After merging with Naniwa High School and Osaka High School as a result of the government's education system reform in 1949, UOsaka started its postwar era with five faculties: Science, Medicine, Engineering, Letters, and Law. Since that time new faculties and research institutes have been established, including the first Japanese School of Engineering Science and the School of Human Sciences which covers such cross-disciplinary research interests as broadly as psychology, sociology, and education. Built on the then-existing faculties, ten graduate schools were set up as part of the government's education system reform program in 1953. Two more graduate faculties were added in 1994. In 1993, Osaka University Hospital was relocated from the Nakanoshima campus in downtown Osaka to the

Suita is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 381,238 in 182,636 households, and a population density of 11,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is a suburban city of Osaka City and a p ...

campus, completing the implementation of the university's plan to integrate the scattered facilities into the Suita and

Toyonaka is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 399,263 in 179651 households and a population density of 5700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is a suburban city of Osaka City and a part of the ...

campuses. In October 2007, a merger between UOsaka and the Osaka University of Foreign Studies in Minoh was completed. The merger made UOsaka one of two national universities in the country with a School of Foreign Studies, along with the

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies , often referred to as TUFS, is a specialist National university, national research university in Fuchū, Tokyo, Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan. TUFS is primarily devoted to foreign language, international relations, international affairs and area studies. ...

. The merger also made UOsaka the largest national university in Japan.

Campus

Toyonaka campus

The

campus is home to faculties of

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, and

Engineering Science Engineering physics (EP), sometimes engineering science, is the field of study combining pure science disciplines (such as physics, mathematics, chemistry or biology) and engineering disciplines (computer, nuclear, electrical, aerospace, medica ...

. It is also the academic base for Graduate Schools of International Public Policy, Language and Culture, a portion of Information Science, and the Center for the Practice of Legal and Political Expertise. All undergraduates attend classes on the Toyonaka campus during their first year of enrollment. Sports activities are primarily concentrated on the Toyonaka campus, with the exception of tennis, which is located in Suita.

Suita campus

The

campus houses faculties of Human Sciences,

Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

Dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...

Pharmaceutical Sciences Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links healt ...

, and

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

. It contains the Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences and a portion of the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology. The campus is also home to the University of Osaka Hospital and the Nationwide Joint Institute of Cybermedia Center and Research Center for Nuclear Physics.

Minoh campus

The Minoh campus was incorporated following the merger with the Osaka University of Foreign Studies in October 2007. The Minoh campus is home to the School of Foreign Studies, the Research Institute for World Languages, and the Center for Japanese Language and Culture. In addition to these three campuses, the former Nakanoshima campus, the university's earliest campus located in downtown Osaka, served as the hub for the faculty of medicine until the transfer to the Suita campus was completed in 1993. In April 2004, the Nakanoshima campus became the university's Nakanoshima Center, serving as a venue for information exchange, adult education classes, and activities involving academic as well as non-academic communities.

Organization

The University of Osaka consists of 11 undergraduate schools and 15 graduate schools. The undergraduate schools include Letters, Human Sciences, Foreign Studies, Law, Economics, Science, (Faculty of) Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Engineering, and Engineering Science. At postgraduate level, the schools cover a range of disciplines: Humanities, Human Sciences, Law and Politics, Economics, Science, Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Engineering, Engineering Science, International Public Policy, Information Science and Technology, Frontier Biosciences, Law (Law School), and the United School of Child Development, which is a collaboration with Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine,

Chiba University is a national university in the city of Chiba, Chiba, Chiba, Japan. It offers doctoral degrees in education as part of a coalition with Tokyo Gakugei University, Saitama University, and Yokohama National University. The university was formed in ...

, and the University of Fukui. UOsaka also has 21 research institutes, 4 libraries, and 2 university hospitals. Some staff at UOsaka are represented by the

General Union A general union is a trade union (called ''labor union'' in American English) which represents workers from all industries and companies, rather than just one organisation or a particular sector, as in a craft union or industrial union. A gen ...

, a member of the National Union of General Workers, which is itself a member of the National Trade Union Council. UOsaka maintains four overseas Centers for Education and Research, in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

English-medium programs

The University of Osaka's School of Human Sciences on the Suita Campus hosts an English-medium four-year undergraduate degree program. The program started in 2011 as a result of the national government's G30 (Global 30) Project. Although the government ended the G30 Project in 2014 and replaced it with the Top Global University Project, the OU Human Sciences International Undergraduate Program continues. Areas of study include sociology, anthropology, philosophy, education, behavioral sciences, psychology, human development, and area studies. Focus is on the development of an interdisciplinary, international, and problem-solving orientation to research and education. The degree programme is based on international benchmarking standards, has competitive entry requirements and attracts students from all over the world. The current director of this programme is Beverley Yamamoto, who leads a UNESCO Chair in Global Health and Education. UOsaka's Graduate School of Humanities hosts another English-medium program in Global

Japanese Studies , sometimes known as Japanology in Europe, is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese language, history, culture, litera ...

for graduate students, one of the Graduate Programs for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies.

Academic alliances

The University of Osaka has academic exchange agreements with a large number of universities in other countries and regions. These academic exchange agreements have been concluded on the university-to-university level and also on the school-to-school level. Joint research as well as researcher and student exchanges take place between UOsaka and these universities and schools. At certain of these universities and schools, it is possible for undergraduate and graduate students to take classes and/or engage in research for up to one year without paying tuition to that university or school while retaining their enrollment status at their home university. Inter-university agreements number is 156, and inter-faculty agreements number is 651 as of May 1, 2024. UOsaka's academic alliances include

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

(1989),

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(2008),

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

(2008), and the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

(2008) in the United States,

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

(1996), the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

(1999) and the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

(2019) in Canada,

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities. The university's main c ...

(2000) and

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

(1998) in South Korea,

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

(2001) and

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

(2004) in China, the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

(2008), the

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

(2008), the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

, and

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

(1995). In Europe, alliances include the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

(2002), the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

(2006), the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

(2007), and the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

(1982). Allied institutions in the United Kingdom include the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

(1997) and the

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

(2006).

Academic rankings

General

The University of Osaka is recognised as a prestigious university, evident in its consistent high rankings both domestically and internationally. In the 2024

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

Quacquarelli Symonds Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) is a higher education analyst and a for-profit services provider headquartered in London with offices in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. History The company was founded by Nunzio Quacquarelli in 1990 to provide informati ...

, UOsaka was placed 80th globally and 3rd in Japan, after UTokyo and KyotoU. In the 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, it was ranked 175th globally. As a research institution, UOsaka ranks highly in Japan. According to Thomson Reuters, it is ranked 2nd for innovation in Japan and 22nd worldwide.

Subjects

Its notable research achievements include leading positions in immunology (first in Japan, fourth globally), material science (fourth in Japan, fifteenth globally), and chemistry (fifth in Japan, fourteenth globally). This ranking includes non-educational institutions. It also ranks seventh for research funding per researcher in the Japanese COE Programme and third in Japan for the number of patents accepted in 2017. In the

Nature index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries/territories and their scientific output since its introduction in November 2014. Originally released with 64 natural-science journals, the Nature Index expanded to 82 natural-sci ...

2024 annual table, UOsaka was ranked 34th globally for its output in selected journals in the fields of natural sciences and Health Sciences research, among all leading research institutions in the world (3rd in Japan).

Selectivity

The University of Osaka is one of the most selective universities in Japan. In most Japanese university selectivity tables, UOsaka comes after the top two universities, the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

and

Kyoto University , or , is a National university, national research university in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 1897, it is one of the former Imperial Universities and the second oldest university in Japan. The university has ten undergraduate faculties, eighteen gra ...

Athletics

The University of Osaka and

Nagoya University , abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya. It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...

hold regular Athletics Competition every year. Recent years Osaka also has a regular windsurfing competition relationship with

, Kobe University, and Taiwan's National Sun Yat-sen University.

Notable people

Sciences

File:Hantaro Nagaoka.jpg, Hantaro Nagaoka, 1st President of OU, pioneer of Japanese physics File:Yukawa.jpg,

, recipient of the 1949

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

File:YoichiroNambu.jpg,

Yoichiro Nambu was a Japanese-American physicist and professor at the University of Chicago. Known for his groundbreaking contributions to theoretical physics, Nambu was the originator of the theory of spontaneous symmetry breaking, a concept that revoluti ...

, recipient of the 2008

File:Akira Yoshino 20170920 (cropped 3).jpg,

Akira Yoshino is a Japanese chemist. He is a fellow of Asahi Kasei, Asahi Kasei Corporation and a professor at Meijo University in Nagoya. He created the first safe, production-viable lithium-ion battery, which became used widely in cellular phones and noteb ...

, recipient of the 2019

Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...

File:Hiroshi Ishiguro (Хироси Исигуро) (6795439075).jpg, Hiroshi Ishiguro, creator of Geminoid robots File:Hidesaburo_Hanafusa_cropped_Hidesaburo_Hanafusa_20001212.jpg, Hidesaburo Hanafusa, virologist, 1982

Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research The Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research is one of the Lasker Award, prizes awarded by the Lasker Foundation for a fundamental discovery that opens up a new area of biomedical science. The award frequently precedes a Nobel Prize in Phys ...

winner File:Osamu_Hayaishi.jpg, Osamu Hayaishi, 1986 Wolf Prize in Medicine winner File:Shizuo_Akira_cropped_Shizuo_Akira_20141212.jpg, Shizuo Akira, immunologists, 2011 Gairdner Award winner File:Crafoordpriset_2009-press_conference_07.jpg, Tadamitsu Kishimoto, 14th President of OU, 2009

Crafoord Prize The Crafoord Prize () is an annual science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish industrialist, and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord following a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is awarded jointly by the Acade ...

winner File:Crafoordpriset_2009-press_conference_20.jpg, Toshio Hirano, 17th President of OU, 2009

winner File:Kiyoshi_Nagai,_November_2018.jpg, Kiyoshi Nagai, biologist at the

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology The Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is a research institute in Cambridge, England, involved in the revolution in molecular biology which occurred in the 1950–60s. Since then it has remained a major medical r ...

File:Shimon_Sakaguchi_cropped_2_Shimon_Sakaguchi_201711.jpg,

, 2015 Gairdner Award and 2017

winner File:Pratiwi Sudarmono-0.jpg, Pratiwi Sudarmono, Indonesian microbiologist File:Michio_Morishima.jpg, Michio Morishima, co-founder of '' International Economic Review'' File:Shizuo_Kakutani.jpg,

Shizuo Kakutani was a Japanese and American mathematician, best known for his eponymous fixed-point theorem. Biography Kakutani attended Tohoku University in Sendai, where his advisor was Tatsujirō Shimizu. At one point he spent two years at the Institu ...

, mathematician known for

Kakutani fixed-point theorem In mathematical analysis, the Kakutani fixed-point theorem is a fixed-point theorem for set-valued functions. It provides sufficient conditions for a set-valued function defined on a convex, compact subset of a Euclidean space to have a fixed poi ...

File:Jun-iti_Nagata.jpg, Jun-iti Nagata, topologist File:Ikeda_01.jpg, Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda, Turkish mathematician of Japanese ancestry File:Election of the WHO Regional Director for the African Region.jpg, Mohamed Yakub Janabi, Regional Director

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

Regional Office for Africa *

Shoichi Sakata was a Japanese physicist and Marxist who was internationally known for theoretical work on the subatomic particles.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sakata Shōichi''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ' ...

, physicist, known for

Sakata model In particle physics, the Sakata model of hadrons was a precursor to the quark model. It proposed that the proton, neutron, and Lambda baryon were elementary particles (sometimes referred to as sakatons ), and that all other known hadrons were made ...

nominee * Takeo Matsubara, physicist at

, 1961 Nishina Memorial Prize winner * Oda Minoru, astronomer and astrophysicist, Emeritus Professor at the

* Yoshiaki Arata, pioneering researchers into

nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction, reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nuclei, nuclei/neutrons, neutron by-products. The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the rele ...

* Shigeo Satomura, Japanese physicist *

Akira Hasegawa is a Japanese theoretical physicist and engineer who has worked in the U.S. and Japan. He is known for his work in the derivation of the Hasegawa–Mima equation, which describes fundamental plasma turbulence and the consequent generation of z ...

, theoretical physicist and engineer * Takashi Hibiki, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

* Yasuo Tanaka, Japanese astrophysicist and member of the

Japan Academy The Japan Academy ( Japanese: 日本学士院, ''Nihon Gakushiin'') is an honorary organisation and science academy founded in 1879 to bring together leading Japanese scholars with distinguished records of scientific achievements. The Academy is ...

* Sonia Contera, Spanish physicist at the

* Satoshi Kawata, scientist in nanotechnology and photonics * Satoshi Hiyamizu, professor of electrical engineering * Tadao Kasami, information theorist,

IEEE Fellow , the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and ot ...

, 1999 IEEE Claude E. Shannon Award winner * Tetsuo Asano, computer scientist, the president of the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) * Wahid Shams Kolahi, Iranian scientist and electrical engineer * Kilnam Chon, South Korean computer scientist * Nguyễn Ngọc Bình, Vietnamese computer scientist *

Li Siguang Li Siguang (; 26 October 1889 – 29 April 1971), also known as J. S. Lee, was a Chinese geologist and politician. He was the founder of China's geomechanics Geomechanics (from the Greek ''γεός'', i.e. prefix ''geo-'' meaning "earth"; and " ...

, Chinese geologist and politician * Yoshio Okamoto, Japanese chemist, 2019

Japan Prize is awarded to individuals whose original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind. As of 2024, the Japan Prize h ...

winner * Yukihiro Ozaki, Japanese scientist at Kwansei Gakuin University * Tomoaki Kato, pioneer in multiple-organ transplantation * Toshio Yanagida, Japanese biophysicist *

Yoshizumi Ishino is a Japanese molecular biologist, known for discovering the DNA sequence of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR). Biography Ishino was born in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. He received his BS, MS and PhD in 1981, 1 ...

, Japanese molecular biologist, known for his discovery of the DNA sequence of

CRISPR CRISPR (; acronym of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found in the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea. Each sequence within an individual prokaryotic CRISPR is d ...

* Kiyoshi Mizuuchi, Japanese biochemist * Yusuke Nakamura, Japanese prominent geneticist and cancer researcher * Hiroshi Haruki, mathematician, and author of Haruki's theorem and Haruki's Lemma * Tadashi Nakayama, mathematician who made important contributions to

representation theory Representation theory is a branch of mathematics that studies abstract algebra, abstract algebraic structures by ''representing'' their element (set theory), elements as linear transformations of vector spaces, and studies Module (mathematics), ...

* Katsumi Nomizu, Japanese-American mathematician known for his work in

differential geometry Differential geometry is a Mathematics, mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds. It uses the techniques of Calculus, single variable calculus, vector calculus, lin ...

* Hidehiko Yamabe, Japanese mathematician known for Yamabe flow, Yamabe invariant,

Yamabe problem The Yamabe problem refers to a conjecture in the mathematical field of differential geometry, which was resolved in the 1980s. It is a statement about the scalar curvature of Riemannian manifolds: By computing a formula for how the scalar curvatur ...

* Toru Kumon, Japanese mathematics educator, developer of Kumon method * Kengo Hirachi, Japanese mathematician, specializing in CR geometry and mathematical analysis * Yozo Matsushima, Japanese mathematician * Masao Ogaki, Japanese economist at

Keio University , abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally established as a school for Rangaku, Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It was granted university status in 1920, becomi ...

* Giorgio Brunello, Italian economist * Kazuya Kamiya, Japanese economics, professor at Kobe University * Takero Doi, Japanese economist

Business and Arts

File:Morita_Akio.jpg,

Akio Morita was a Japanese entrepreneur and co-founder of Sony along with Masaru Ibuka. Early life Akio Morita was born in Nagoya. Morita's family was involved in sake, miso and soy sauce production in the village of Kosugaya (currently a part of Toko ...

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

co-founder,

Asian of the Century Asian of the Century was a centurial issue of the 20th century held by American AsianWeek magazine and CNN in 1999 that features and profiles Asian persons who have topped their respective fields. Those people featured are considered as "The pers ...

File:Masataka Taketsuru.jpg, Masataka Taketsuru, father of Japan's

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

industry File:Osamu Tezuka 1951 Scan10008-2.JPG,

, Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator File:Shiba_Ryotaro.jpg, Ryōtarō Shiba, one of the most important writers in contemporary Japan File:Norihiko Hibino.jpg, Norihiko Hibino, Japanese video game composer and saxophonist *

Kunio Nakamura was a Japanese businessman. He served as the president of Panasonic from 2000 to 2005 and assumed the position of chairman on 28 June 2006. Even though he is widely regarded as having reformed the company, he created a crisis in the mid-2000s for ...

, businessman, the president of

Panasonic is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Japan. It was founded in 1918 as in Fukushima-ku, Osaka, Fukushima by Kōnosuke Matsushita. The company was incorporated in 1935 and renamed and c ...

* Takamitsu Azuma, architect. Professor of UOsaka (1985–1997), Emeritus Professor * Seishi Yokomizo, novelist and creator of the private detective

Kosuke Kindaichi is a fictional Japanese detective created by Seishi Yokomizo, a renowned mystery novelist. His first case, '' The Honjin Murders'', is a novel of a locked room murder in an old family house, which many people regard as one of the best Japanese de ...

* Toshio Masuda, film director * Tetsurō Itodani, professional

shogi , also known as Japanese chess, is a Strategy game, strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as chess, Western chess, chaturanga, xiangqi, Indian chess, and janggi. ...

player and

Ryūō Ryūō (also Ryu-O, Ryu-oh, Ryuuou; in Japanese: 龍王, 竜王, lit. " Dragon King") is an annual Japanese professional shogi tournament and the title of its winner. The current Ryūō title holder is Sōta Fujii. The Ryūō Tournament (''Ryū ...

champion * Junzo Shono, Japanese novelist, 1954

Akutagawa Prize The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes. History Th ...

winner * Chin Shunshin, Taiwanese-Japanese novelist, 1968 Naoki Prize winner * Glenn Hook, British academic at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

* Tatsuhiko Seo, Japanese historian * Shūdō Higashinakano, Japanese historian * Yutaka Tsujinaka, professor of political science at the

University of Tsukuba is a List of national universities in Japan, national research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Ibaraki, Japan. The university has 28 college clusters and schools with around 16,500 students (as of 2014). The main Tsukuba ca ...

* Keiko McDonald, American orientalist * Akiko Kiso, Japanese classicist * Harue Tsutsumi, Japanese playwright *

Koushun Takami is a Japanese author and journalist. He is best known for his 1999 in literature, 1999 novel ''Battle Royale (novel), Battle Royale'', which was later adapted into two Battle Royale (film), live-action films, directed by Kinji Fukasaku, and fo ...

, journalist and author of '' Battle Royale'' *

Taku Mayumura Taku Mayumura ( ''Mayumura Taku'', 20 October 1934 – 3 November 2019) was a Japanese novelist, science fiction writer(ja) Nihon Gensō Sakka Jiten, pp.648-649. and haiku poet. He won the Seiun Award for Novel twice. His novel ''Shiseikan'' (, '' ...

, Japanese novelist, science fiction writer, 1974 and 1996

Seiun Award The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Nihon SF Taikai, Japan Science Fic ...

winner * Akira Hori, Japanese science fiction writer, 1980

Nihon SF Taisho Award The is a Japanese science fiction award. It has been compared to the Nebula Award as it is given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan or SFWJ. The Grand Prize is selected from not only Science Fiction novels, but also various SF mo ...

and

winner * Yasumi Kobayashi, Japanese author of horror, science fiction, and mystery, 2012 and 2017

winner * Takahiro Kimura, Japanese animator, illustrator and character designer * Ichirō Sakaki, Japanese light novel writer * Teiichiro Fujita, Japanese economist and economic historian

Politics

File:Japanese_Deputy_Foreign_Minister_Yabunaka.jpg, Mitoji Yabunaka, current Japanese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs File:Heizo_Takenaka_2008.jpg, Heizo Takenaka,

Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

File:Shinji_Tarutoko_cropped_2_Shinji_Tarutoko_Minshu_IMG_5451_20130707.jpg,

Shinji Tarutoko is a Japanese politician and former member of the House of Representatives. Early life and education Tarutoko was born in Shimane Prefecture on 6 August 1959. He studied at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management. Career Taruto ...

, former member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

* Shuzen Tanigawa, Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, member of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. If the t ...

* Satoshi Umemura, Japanese politician of the

Democratic Party of Japan The was a Centrism, centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to Centre-left politics, centre-left, Liberalism, liberal or Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Japan, ...

, member of the

* Mitsuo Mitani, Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, member of the

* Tadashi Maeda, member of the

* Wataru Ito, Japanese politician of the New Komeito Party * Keisuke Kihara, former mayor of

Sakai, Osaka is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its ''kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun' ...

in Japan * Ko Ko Oo, former Minister of Science and Technology of

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

* Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed, SAARC Secretary-General

Notes and references

External links

* {{Authority control

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Universities and colleges established in 1931 Japanese national universities National Seven Universities 1931 establishments in Japan Super Global Universities Kansai Collegiate American Football League