Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

History

The University is the oldest academic institution devoted to international studies in Japan. It began as Institute for Research of Foreign Documents (蛮書調所, Bansho Shirabesho), a Tokugawa shogunate's translation bureau set up in 1857.

It was subsequently established as an independent educational and research institution with the name Tokyo School of Foreign Languages (東京外国語学校, Tokyo Gaikokugo Gakko) in 1873 and gained independence in 1899.

In 1949, it was formed as a new-system university as the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (東京外国語大学, Tokyo Gaikokugo Daigaku), with only one undergraduate program with twelve departments. In 1999, the University celebrated both the 126th anniversary of its original establishment and the 100th anniversary of its independence. In 2000, the campus was moved to its present location, where students can study in a modern, hi-tech environment.

In 2012, the Faculty of Foreign Languages was reorganized and the School of Language and Culture Studies and the School of International and Area Studies were established. In 2019, the School of Japan Studies was established.

Student life

Campus

The primary TUFS campus in Fuchu is situated in Asahi-cho near Tama Station of the Seibu Tamagawa Line. Classes are mainly held in the Research and Lecture building and, for international students, the Japanese Language Center (留学生日本語教育センター). The campus also features a library, gymnasium, sports field, cafeteria, and small shop, with another convenience store located adjacent to the North Arrival Court.

SWA Group, a prominent landscape architecture firm, designed a gathering space for the campus, repurposing a former military base to create a multifunctional space suitable for social gatherings as well as studying. The space honors the Japanese belief that trees represent souls and SWA carefully transplanted or incorporated all of the trees from the existing forest. Beyond being featured in Roger Yee's Educational Environments and Walter Roger's textbook Professional Practice of Landscape Architecture: A Complete Guide to Starting and Running Your Own Firm, the plaza won a National ASLA Design Merit Award in 2003.

Dormitories

On-site accommodation is available to international students and local students, in the form of the three International Residence Halls located at the 'rear' of the campus by the sports field. Two of the buildings provide studio apartment-sized single rooms for incoming students, as well as a limited number of 'family'-sized apartments. Arranged in a wedge-shaped configuration, two sides of the wedge are lined with rooms, with an uncovered atrium in the centre. Completed first, amenities such as a communal kitchen and music room are located in Building 1. Building 2, completed later and featured to the right, moves the showers (and hot water supply) out of the individual rooms and to a communal shower and laundry area located on each floor. The newest Building 3 is located next to Building 2 and offers single rooms to international and local students.

Festival (Gaigosai)

The School Festival of TUFS, Gaigosai, which usually takes place in the end of November, is known for its originality. Freshmen provide food of the countries they major in and Sophomore plays drama in the language they major. The plays are called gogeki (language plays). They sometimes use drama texts written in the language, but they often translate works in another language by themselves. Gogeki was given some grant by Japanese government.

Academics

There are three (undergraduate) schools and one graduate school:

Rankings

TUFS is a specialized institution only in foreign language, international affairs and foreign studies, thus it is not as well known as other big universities such as University of Tokyo and Kyoto University. However, its prestigious position in Japan can be seen in the several rankings below.

General

The university has been ranked 34th, 23rd and 20th out of 181 major universities during 2008–2010 in the "Truly Strong Universities" ranking published by Toyo Keizai.

According to the survey conducted by Nikkei HR in 2013, the TUFS won the first place in "working skills" ranking among Japanese universities. It shows that students grow their "working skills" through their studies at the university and they will learn faster and be operational once they have started their career.

Research

Weekly Diamond reported that TUFS has the 5th highest research standard in Japan in terms of research fundings per researcher in COE Program. In the same article, it's also ranked 3rd in terms of the quality of education by GP funds per student.

Alumni

According to the Weekly Economist's 2010 rankings, graduates from TUFS have the 16th best employment rate in 400 major companies.

École des Mines de Paris ranks TUFS University as 92nd in the world in 2011 in terms of the number of alumni listed among CEOs in the 500 largest worldwide companies, although TUFS is a smaller university compared to other Japanese universities in the ranking.

Selectivity

TUFS is one of the most selective universities in Japan. Its entrance difficulty is usually considered one of the top among 180 national and public universities.

Business

In the 2010 Survey by Weekly Economist on the ranking of universities according to the numerousness of the number of the officers & managers produced by each university in consideration of the number of graduates, TUFS was ranked 6th out of all the 778 universities which existed as of 2010.

Partner universities

TUFS has partner universities in 35 countries.

Taiwan: National Chengchi University, National Taiwan University

Indonesia: Gajah Mada University, University of Indonesia

Malaysia: National University of Malaysia

South Korea: Yonsei University, Seoul National University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

Laos: National University of Laos

Mongolia: National University of Mongolia

Philippines: University of the Philippines Diliman

Thailand: Srinakharinwirot University

Vietnam: VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities (formerly Université Indochinoise)

Singapore: National University of Singapore

India: University of Delhi

Cambodia: Royal University of Phnom Penh

China: Shanghai International Studies University

Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The University of Hong Kong

Australia: The Australian National University

Brazil: Universidade Federal do Parana, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro

Notable people

Alumni

Futabatei Shimei, novelist

Nitobe Inazō, educator

Firoz Mahmud, visual artist, Bangladesh

Jinzai Kiyoshi, novelist

Jun Ishikawa, author

Masahiko Shimada, author

Nankichi Niimi, author

Chūya Nakahara, poet

Kafū Nagai, author

Mari Yonehara, essayist

Oh Seon-hwa, Professor at Takushoku University

Hamada Kazuyuki, politician, Member of the House of Councillors, Parliamentary Vice-Ministers for Foreign Affairs

Hashimoto Ben, politician, Member of the House of Representatives of Japan

Hashimoto Mantaro, linguist and sinologist

Hiroshi Saitō, politician, former Governor of Yamagata Prefecture

Uchiyama Iwataro, politician, former Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture

Nakajima Mineo, First President of Akita International University, a former President of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Sakai Kuniya, President of Kanda University of International Studies

Sakae Osugi, Anarchist

Faculty

Daryoush Ashouri, visiting professor

Isolde Standish is an Australian and British Humanities Scholar and Film theorist specialised in East Asia.

Kitamura Hajime, linguist

Izumi Hoshi, linguist

Masao Yamaguchi, anthropologist, professor emeritus

Nakae Chomin, former president

Tadahiko Shintani, linguist

Takeshi Suzuki, professor of Urdu

Ram Prakash Dwivedi, Visiting Professor