The University of Tokyo was founded in 1877 and describes itself as the oldest and largest of Japan’s national universities. It was formed by merging Tokyo Kaisei School and Tokyo Medical School. Since the incorporation of all national universities in 2004, its full name has been National University Corporation, the University of Tokyo. Its three main campuses are at Hongo, Komaba and Kashiwa, with other facilities across Japan.
The university comprises 10 faculties, 15 graduate schools and 11 affiliated research institutes, among other units. As of 1 May 2024 it had 28,479 regular students, roughly evenly divided between undergraduate and graduate levels, including 4,350 international students, and 8,243 academic and administrative staff, of whom 1,349 were professors. It reports 638 UTokyo-related start-ups as of 31 March 2025. Teruo Fujii is president.