Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
東京外国語大学
Former name
Tokyo School of Foreign Languages
TypeNational
Established1873 / 1949
PresidentKayoko Hayashi
Academic staff
230[1]
Administrative staff
337
Undergraduates3,769
Postgraduates573
Location
Fuchu
,
Tokyo
,
Japan
CampusSuburban
ColorsPeony pink
NicknameTUFS
AffiliationsFUU, EUIJ, CESFNUTA
MascotN/A
Websitewww.tufs.ac.jp

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (東京外国語大学, Tōkyō Gaikokugo Daigaku), often referred to as TUFS, is a specialist national research university in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan.

TUFS is primarily devoted to foreign language, international affairs and area studies. The Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa [ja] (ILCAA), also known as the AA-ken (AA研), is part of TUFS.[2][3]

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.[4]

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.[4]

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.[4]

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.[5]

Student life

Campus

Building for lectures and studies

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).[6] 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.[7][8]

Dormitories

Sign of TUFS

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:[9]

Schools and Programs
Degree Schools Programs
Undergraduate School of Language and Culture Studies English, German, Polish, Czech, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Russian and Uzbek, Mongolian, Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Malay, Filipino, Thai, Laotian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Burmese, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, Persian, Turkish[10][11]
School of International and Area Studies Northwest Europe and North America, Central Europe, Southwest Europe, Iberia and Latin America, Russia, Central Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia 1 (Islands), Southeast Asia 2 (Mainland), South Asia, The Middle East, Africa, Oceania[12]
School of Japan Studies Japanese/Japan[13]
Graduate (Master) Graduate School of Global Studies[14] Global Studies, Japan Studies
Graduate (Doctorate) Global Studies, Japan Studies, Sustainability Research

Rankings

University rankings
WE [ja] National[15] Employment 16
NBP Greater Tokyo[16][17] Reputation 9
Shimano National[18] Selectivity SA
ENSMP World[19] Alumni 92
* The data of NBP is in 2009 rankings because of availability.

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 (本当に強い大学)" ranking published by Toyo Keizai.[20][21]

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.[22][23]

Research

Weekly Diamond reported that TUFS has the 5th highest research standard in Japan in terms of research fundings per researcher in COE Program.[24] 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.[25]

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.[26]

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.[27][28][29]

Business

In the 2010 Survey[30] by Weekly Economist [ja] 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[30] out of all the 778[31] universities which existed as of 2010.

Partner universities

TUFS has partner universities in 35 countries.[32]

Notable people

Okakura Kakuzō, Japanese scholar who contributed to the development of arts in Japan.
Futabatei Schimei, Japanese novelist
Firoz Mahmud, educator and visual artist from Bangladesh
Yukihide Takekawa, Japanese singer-songwriter
Masahiko Shimada, Japanese novelist and winner of Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature

Alumni

Faculty

Notes

  1. ^ "Facts and Figures – About TUFS – Tokyo University of Foreign Studies". Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  2. ^ "ILCAA". AA研. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  3. ^ "Education and Research Institutions – About TUFS – Tokyo University of Foreign Studies". Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "History | Introduction | About TUFS | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies". www.tufs.ac.jp. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  5. ^ "TUFS GUIDE 2023" (PDF).
  6. ^ "Campus Map – About TUFS – Tokyo University of Foreign Studies". Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  7. ^ "Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Campus" (PDF). Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  8. ^ "ASLA Announces its 2003 Professional Awards | asla.org". www.asla.org. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Schools / Education | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies". www.tufs.ac.jp. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Major Languages | School of Language and Culture Studies | Schools / Education | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies". www.tufs.ac.jp. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  11. ^ "言語文化学部（仮称）・国際社会学部（仮称）入学者選抜要項｜言語文化学部（仮称）・国際社会学部（仮称）入試｜東京外国語大学". Archived from the original on 25 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  12. ^ "Major Areas | School of International and Area Studies | Schools / Education | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies". www.tufs.ac.jp. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  13. ^ "School of Japan Studies | Schools / Education | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies". www.tufs.ac.jp. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  14. ^ "Graduate School of Global Studies | Schools / Education | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies". www.tufs.ac.jp. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Employment rate in 400 major companies rankings" (in Japanese). Weekly Economist. 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  16. ^ "Nikkei BP Brand rankings of Japanese universities" (in Japanese). Nikkei Business Publications. 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  17. ^ "Nikkei BP Brand rankings of Japanese universities" (in Japanese). Nikkei Business Publications. 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  18. ^ "GBUDU University Rankings" (in Japanese). YELL books. 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  19. ^ "ENSMP World University Rankings" (PDF). École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris. 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  20. ^ "本当に強い大学【2010年版】総合ランキング･トップ100――東大5連覇、京大が阪大を逆転、関学躍進(1) | | 投資・経済・ビジネスの東洋経済オンライン". Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  21. ^ TUFS only has the Humanities department, so it has a tendency to be ranked weaker. see Truly Strong Universities#Criticisms
  22. ^ "本学の「就業力」についての記事が、日経新聞に掲載されました｜トピックス一覧｜東京外国語大学". Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  23. ^ "「就業力」ランキング 1位は東京外語大". 17 June 2013.
  24. ^ ""週刊ダイヤモンド" ダイヤモンド社" (PDF). 27 February 2010.
  25. ^ "Employment rate in 400 major companies rankings". Weekly Economist (in Japanese). 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  26. ^ "International professional ranking of higher education institutions - 2011 Survey" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  27. ^ Private universities apply different kind of exams. Thus it's only comparable between universities in a same category.
  28. ^ E.g. Yoyogi seminar published Hensachi (the indication showing the entrance difficulties by prep schools) rankings "入試難易ランキング表-2011学部別ランキング表" [Entrance exam difficulty ranking table - 2011 Faculty ranking table] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 22 April 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  29. ^ Japanese journalist Kiyoshi Shimano ranks its entrance difficulty as SA (most selective/out of 11 scales) in Japan. 危ない大学・消える大学 2012年版 (in Japanese). YELL books. 2011. ASIN 4753930181.
  30. ^ a b Is it a story of the past that graduates from famous universities can easily move up the career ladder? / RECRUIT AGENT(in Japanese)
  31. ^ University reform reference materials / Cabinet Secretariat(in Japanese)
  32. ^ "Partner Institutions – International Affairs – Tokyo University of Foreign Studies". Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  33. ^ "贾拉森—— 内大教授、博导、南寺活佛", Inner Mongolia University News, 13 February 2008, archived from the original on 18 July 2011, retrieved 4 June 2010
  34. ^ "イゾルダ・スタンディッシュ". 教員インタビュー (in Japanese). Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  35. ^ Dwivedi, Ram Prakash (2020). "Your Name: A Study of Imagery and Post-Postmodernity in Cinema". doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.30776.98565.
  36. ^ Dwivedi, Ram Prakash. Japan Journal: Jazire ke Jajman.
  37. ^ Dwivedi, Ram Prakash (29 June 2017). "A Discourse on Modern Civilization: The Cinema of Hayao Miyazaki and Gandhi". International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention. 6: 63–68.

35°40′24″N 139°31′11″E / 35.67333°N 139.51972°E / 35.67333; 139.51972