The were founded by the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

between 1886 and 1939, seven in Mainland Japan, one in

Korea under Japanese rule From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...

and one in

Taiwan under Japanese rule The Geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, together with the Penghu, Penghu Islands, became an annexed territory of the Empire of Japan in 1895, when the Qing dynasty ceded Taiwan Province, Fujian-Taiwan Province in the Treaty of Shimonoseki a ...

. These universities were funded by the imperial government until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Historical context

The name 'Imperial University' was initially used by what is now 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 ...

, the nation's first university. Although it was originally established under its current name, the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

renamed it in 1886. In 1897, when it was decided to establish the nation's second university in Kyoto, the original Imperial University was renamed Tokyo Imperial University. Meanwhile, the newly established university was named Kyoto Imperial University. 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 establishment 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 . 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 The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

in the United States, Golden Triangle in the United Kingdom, and the

C9 League The C9 League is an inter-university seminar composed of nine public universities in China. It was established on May 4, 1998, at the 100th anniversary of Peking University. These elite universities are associated with academic excellence and ...

in China. The alumni club of these nine imperial universities is called . Unlike Taihoku Imperial University (renamed in 1945 to National Taiwan University) in then-Japanese Taiwan, the

Keijō Imperial University Keijō Imperial University was an National Seven Universities, Imperial University in Keijō (Seoul), Korea, Empire of Japan that existed between 1924 and 1946. The university was seen as the preeminent educational institution in colonial Korea. ...

in then-Japanese Korea was closed by the

United States Army Military Government in Korea The United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was the official ruling body of the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula from 9 September 1945 to 15 August 1948. The country during this period was plagued with political a ...

(USAMGIK) with U.S. Military Ordinance No. 102.

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 ...

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.

Timeline

Members

Locations (present-day Japan)

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 , or , is a public research university in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Founded in 1918, it is the fifth-oldest government-authorised university in Japan and one of the former Imperial Universities. The university finds its roots in Sapporo A ...

, formerly known as , its name was later changed to in 2002. The competition is commonly called the or the .Long-awaited overall victory in Nanadai-sen
(University of Tokyo)

References