Editing University of Tokyo (section)

== History ==
=== Origins ===
[[File:Hokusai, Fuji at Torigoe.jpg|left|thumb|250x250px|Asakusa Observatory of the [[Tenmongata]] by [[Hokusai]]]]
The University of Tokyo traces its roots to three independent institutes founded during the [[Edo period]] (1603–1868).<ref name=":14" /> The oldest, a Shogun-funded [[Confucianism|Confucian]] school called {{Nihongo|Senseiden|先聖殿}}, was founded in 1630 by [[Razan Hayashi]] in [[Ueno]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The University of Tokyo |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/whyutokyo/1km_of_campus.html |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=The University of Tokyo |language=en}}</ref> This school was renamed the {{Nihongo|Shoheizaka Institute|昌平坂学問所|Shoheizaka Gakumonjo}} and came to be operated directly by the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa Shogunate]] in 1791 as part of the ''[[Kansei Reforms]]''. The ''[[Tenmongata]]'', established in 1684, was the astronomical research and education arm of the Shogunate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Calendar History 2 |url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/koyomi/e/history/calendar.html |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=www.ndl.go.jp}}</ref> It evolved into the {{Nihongo|Kaisei School|開成学校}}, a school for Western learnings, after the [[Meiji Restoration]]. The Kanda Otamagaike Vaccination Centre, established in 1858,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The University of Tokyo |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/hospitals.html |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=The University of Tokyo |language=en}}</ref> evolved into a school of [[Western medicine]] called {{Nihongo|Tokyo Medical School|東京医学校|Tokyo Igakkō}}. Although plans to establish the country's first university had been in place just after the Meiji Restoration, it was not until around 1875 that it was decided to form the university by merging these schools.<ref>{{Cite web |title=二 東京大学の創設：文部科学省 |url=https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/others/detail/1317599.htm |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=www.mext.go.jp}}</ref>

=== Founding and early days ===
[[File:PSM V64 D470 Imperial university of tokyo.png|thumb|UTokyo's [[Akamon (Tokyo)|Akamon]] (Red Gate), built in 1827, as seen {{Circa|1903}}]]
The University of Tokyo was chartered on April 12, 1877, by the [[Government of Meiji Japan|Meiji government]]. Corresponding to the fields covered by the predecessor schools, it started with four faculties: [[Graduate Schools for Law and Politics and Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo|Law]], [[Graduate School of Science and Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo|Science]], [[Faculty of Letters, University of Tokyo|Letters]], and [[Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo|Medicine]]. The [[Imperial College of Engineering]] later merged into the university and became the [[Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo|Faculty of Engineering]]. In [[1886]], the university was renamed Imperial University, and it adopted the name Tokyo Imperial University in 1897 after the founding of the next [[Imperial Universities|imperial university]], what is now [[Kyoto University]].<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |title=The University of Tokyo |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/chronology.html |access-date=2023-11-06 |website=The University of Tokyo, About UTokyo, Chronology |language=en}}</ref> By 1888, all faculties had completed their relocation to the former site of the Tokyo house of the [[Maeda family]] in [[Hongō, Tokyo|Hongo]], where they continue to operate today. Among the few extant structures built before this relocation is a gate called [[Akamon (Tokyo)|Akamon]], which has become a widely recognised symbol of the university.[[File:Kume Matsuoka Akutagawa Naruse.jpg|thumb|UTokyo students ([[Masao Kume|Kume]], Matsuoka, [[Ryūnosuke Akutagawa|Akutagawa]] and [[Seiichi Naruse|Naruse]]), {{Circa|1916}}]]

During its initial two decades as a modern institution, UTokyo benefited from the contributions of European and American scholars. In 1871, the Meiji Government made a decision about the direction of academic disciplines: engineering was to be learnt from the United Kingdom, mathematics, physics, and international law from France, while politics, economics, and medicine were to be guided by German expertise. Additionally, agriculture and commercial law knowledge was to be sourced from the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=四 海外留学生と雇外国人教師：文部科学省 |url=https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/others/detail/1317601.htm |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=www.mext.go.jp}}</ref> Following this policy, UTokyo and its predecessor institutions sent their graduates to universities in these respective countries and also invited lecturers from them. However, by the 1880s, the Japanese government grew concerned over the spread of [[French republican]] and [[Constitutional monarchy|British constitutional monarchist]] ideals among the faculty and students, and eventually Minister of Education [[Ōki Takatō|Takato Oki]] instructed the university to reduce the use of English as a language of instruction, and instead to switch to Japanese.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Masao |last=Terasaki |title=プロムナード東京大学史, Short History of the University of Tokyo |publisher=Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppankai |year=1992 |isbn=4-13-003302-6|location=Tōkyō |pages=161 |language=ja}}</ref> This shift coincided with the return of UTokyo alumni who had completed their education in Europe, and these returnees began filling roles that had been predominantly held by foreign scholars.

=== Interwar period ===
[[File:Emperor Shōwa arrival at the University of Tokyo.png|thumb|[[Hirohito|Emperor Hirohito]] opening a new campus (now known as the Phase II portion of the [[University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus|Komaba Campus]]) for the Institute of Aeronautics in 1930]]
The first half of the Interwar period in Japan was characterised by the spread of liberal ideas, collectively known as [[Taishō Democracy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=吉野作造｜大正デモクラシー｜民主主義｜選挙普通 (Sakuzo Yoshino, Taisho Democracy, Minpon shugi, Universal suffrage) |url=https://www.yoshinosakuzou.info/blank-22 |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=home |language=ja}}</ref> This movement was ushered in by the concept of ''[[Minpon Shugi]]'' by [[Sakuzō Yoshino]], as well as [[Tatsukichi Minobe]]'s interpretation of sovereignty as inherent to the state rather than the monarchy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=日本放送協会 |title=文字と画像で見る {{!}} 歴史総合 |url=https://www.nhk.or.jp/kokokoza/rekishisougou/contents/resume/resume_0000000527.html |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=高校講座 |language=ja}}</ref> Both were alumni and professors at the Faculty of Law. Taking advantage of the widespread acceptance of such ideas, prime minister [[Katō Takaaki|Takaaki Katō]], an alumnus of UTokyo, extended suffrage to all males aged 25 and over in 1925, as promised in his manifesto.<ref>{{Cite web |title=3-13 男子普通選挙法の成立と治安維持法 {{!}} 史料にみる日本の近代 |url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/modern/cha3/description13.html |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=www.ndl.go.jp |language=ja}}</ref> This liberal tendency was also shared among students, exemplified by the labour movement organisation the UTokyo Association of New People (東大新人会, {{Interlanguage link|Tōdai Shinjin-kai|ja|新人会}}) and the UTokyo Settlement (東大セツルメント, {{Interlanguage link|Tōdai Settlement|ja|学生セツルメント}}).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=中筋 |first=直哉 |date=1998 |title=磯村都市社会学の揺籃 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jpasurban1983/1998/16/1998_16_29/_article/-char/ja/ |journal=日本都市社会学会年報 |volume=1998 |issue=16 |pages=29–47 |doi=10.5637/jpasurban1983.1998.29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Henry |title=Japan's First Student Radicals |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |year=1972 |isbn=9780674471856 |language=en}}</ref> However, strong reactions against these liberal and socialist ideas also emerged at the university, notably from [[Uesugi Shinkichi|Shinkichi Uesugi]], who mentored and greatly influenced three future prime ministers among his students at UTokyo: [[Nobusuke Kishi]],<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Fukuda |first=Kazuya |title=悪と徳と 岸信介と未完の日本 |publisher=扶桑社 |isbn=9784594073152 |publication-date=October 2015 |language=ja}}</ref> [[Eisaku Satō]],<ref name=":16" /> and [[Takeo Fukuda]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=大下英治 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S3drEAAAQBAJ&dq=%E4%B8%8A%E6%9D%89%E6%85%8E%E5%90%89%E3%80%80%E7%A6%8F%E7%94%B0%E8%B5%B3%E5%A4%AB&pg=PT17 |script-title=ja:清和会秘録 |title=Seiwakai hiroku |date=2015-10-15 |publisher=イースト・プレス |isbn=978-4-7816-5058-6 |language=ja}}</ref>

==== Great Kanto Earthquake ====
[[File:Tokyo Imperial University after Great Kanto earthquake.JPG|thumb|The University of Tokyo suffered immense damage in the Great Earthquake of 1923.]]
On September 1, 1923, the [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake|Great Kanto Earthquake]] struck the Kanto Plain, inflicting immense damage upon the university. This damage included the complete destruction of almost all main buildings, including the library, as well as the loss of precious scientific and historical samples and data stored in them.<ref>Earthquake disaster and reconstruction, The University of Tokyo 100-year history {{cite book |url=https://repository.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/record/53865/files/02_hyakunenshi_tsushi02.pdf#page459 |access-date=2021-05-29 |format=pdf |page=385 |editor=東京大学百年史編集委員会 |publisher=東京大学 |volume=II |date=March 1985 |title=東大百年史 通史 |archive-date=2021-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606073831/https://repository.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/record/53865/files/02_hyakunenshi_tsushi02.pdf#page459 |url-status=live }} {{in lang|ja}}</ref><ref name="lostmemoryunesco">[http://www.unesco.org/webworld/mdm/administ/pdf/LOSTMEMO.PDF Lost Memory – Libraries and Archives Destroyed in the Twentieth Century] ( {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905105742/http://www.unesco.org/webworld/mdm/administ/pdf/LOSTMEMO.PDF|date=September 5, 2012}})</ref> This led to a university-wide debate as to whether it should relocate to a larger site, such as [[Yoyogi]], but ultimately, such plans were rejected. Instead, the university purchased additional land in its vicinity, which was still owned by the Maeda family, and expanded there.
[[File:University of Tokyo circa 1953.jpg|thumb|Most of the buildings on the [[Hongō campus|Hongo Campus]] today were built during the reconstruction period in a style known as Uchida Gothic, including [[Yasuda Auditorium]] and the [[University of Tokyo Library#General Library (Hongo)|General Library]].]]
The reconstruction of the university and its library was brought up in the fourth general assembly of the [[League of Nations]] in September 1923, where it was unanimously decided to provide support. The League is said to have been sympathetic especially because the memory of the destruction of [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|KU Leuven]] in Belgium during the [[World War I|First World War]] was still fresh.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-15 |title=Libraries and disasters, libraries and wars |url=https://letterpresslabo.com/2019/12/15/kulpcws-column37/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=活版印刷研究所 |language=ja}}</ref> The American philanthropist [[John D. Rockefeller Jr.]] personally donated $2 million (approximately $36 million in 2023). The United Kingdom formed a committee led by former Prime Minister [[Arthur Balfour|Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour]], and made substantial financial and cultural contributions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=記念特別展示会－世界から贈られた図書を受け継いで－ |url=https://www.lib.u-tokyo.ac.jp/html/tenjikai/tenjikai2007/preface.html |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=www.lib.u-tokyo.ac.jp}}</ref> Rockefeller Jr. and [[Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester]], a younger son of [[George V]], visited the university in 1929, shortly after the [[University of Tokyo Library#General Library (Hongo)|new library]] was completed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=総合図書館今昔物語 |url=https://www.lib.u-tokyo.ac.jp/html/tenjikai/tenjikai2013/index.html |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=www.lib.u-tokyo.ac.jp}}</ref> Prince Henry's visit marked the first Great Ball (大園遊会, ''Dai-Enyukai'') in several years, which is now known as the May Festival (五月祭, ''Gogatsusai'').<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hiroya |first=Sato |date=30 March 2020 |title=東京大学五月祭の歴史 : 東京帝国大学におけるその起源と変遷 |url=https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1390290699580206208 |journal=東京大学大学院教育学研究科紀要 |volume=59 |pages=241–251 |issn=1342-1050}}</ref> A large portion of the buildings on Hongo Campus today were built during this reconstruction period, and their unique [[Collegiate Gothic|Collegiate Gothic style]] is known as Uchida Gothic ({{lang|ja|内田ゴシック}}) after [[Yoshikazu Uchida]], the architect who designed them.<ref>{{Cite web |title=内田祥三・丹下健三と建築学の戦中・戦後 |url=https://ocw.u-tokyo.ac.jp/lecture_1249/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |language=ja}}</ref>

Another notable change the earthquake brought about at the university was the expansion of its [[Seismology|seismology studies]]. Long having been the only university in the [[List of earthquakes in Japan|seismically active country]], the university was already known for its seismology research, most notably the contributions made by its alumnus and professor, [[Fusakichi Omori]], in quantitatively evaluating the aftershocks of earthquakes ([[Omori's law]]) and developing a new type of seismometer capable of recording [[P wave|primary waves]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davison |first=C. |date=January 1924 |title=Prof. Fusakichi Omori |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/113133a0 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=113 |issue=2830 |pages=133 |doi=10.1038/113133a0 |bibcode=1924Natur.113..133D |issn=1476-4687}}</ref> The university set up an independent seismology department in November 1923 to delve into the causes and effects of earthquakes and to better prepare for future seismic events.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/overview/history.html |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=SCHOOL OF SCIENCE THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO |language=en}}</ref> In 1925, with a government grant, the [[Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo|Earthquake Research Institute]] was established within the university, and it has been in continuous operation up to today.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Greeting from the Director – Earthquake Research Institute, the University of Tokyo |url=https://www.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/overview/greeting-from-the-director/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |language=ja}}</ref>

=== World War II ===
[[File:東京帝国大学第二工学部本部事務室.png|thumb|237x237px|UTokyo’s Second Faculty of Engineering was established in 1942 to meet the growing demand for engineers during the Second World War. It evolved into the [[Institute of Industrial Science]] after the war.]]
In 1941, the [[Empire of Japan]] [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked the American bases at Pearl Harbor]] and joined [[World War II]] as an [[Axis powers|Axis power]] alongside [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]. By late 1943, as Japan faced significant defeats in the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific theatre]], a decision was made to enlist university students studying humanities, sending them to battlefields. During the war, 1,652 students and alumni of UTokyo were killed, including those from varied civilian professions such as doctors, engineers, and diplomats, as well as those killed in action.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=谷本 |first=宗生 |date=31 March 2014 |title=「学生とともに考える学徒出陣 70 周年—記憶と継承」—（東京大学附属図書館・東京大学史史料室共催）を終えて、一緒に考えてみたこと— |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/content/400005683.pdf |journal=東京大学資料室ニュース |issue=52}}</ref> They are commemorated in a memorial erected near the front gate of the Hongo Campus. Most students from faculties of engineering and science remained at university or worked as apprentice engineers, as the expertise of science and technology was deemed indispensable for the war effort. [[Leo Esaki]], who was a student at the department of physics during the war, shared his memory of his university life in 2007: 'The day after the [[Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945)|Tokyo Air Raid of 9 March 1945]], during which more than 100 thousand citizens were killed, professor Tanaka conducted class as usual, without mentioning the war at all'.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=東京大学創立130周年記念事業 |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/130ut/event/03_07.html |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=www.u-tokyo.ac.jp}}</ref> The buildings and facilities of UTokyo were largely immune from air raids, allowing education and research activities to continue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=東京帝国大学営繕工事記録写真帳 |url=https://umdb.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/DAnnex/photobook/home.php |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=umdb.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp}}</ref>

The increased demand brought about by the war for engineers, especially in the fields of aeronautics, machinery, electronics, and shipbuilding, led to the establishment of the Second Faculty of Engineering ({{lang|ja|第二工学部}}) at UTokyo in 1942. In the newly built Chiba Campus, around 800 students were enrolled at one time, and military engineering research activities were conducted. It was closed in 1951, and as a successor organisation, the [[Institute of Industrial Science]] was established on the site of the former headquarters of the Third Infantry Regiment in [[Roppongi]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hirasawa |first=Hideo |date=2012 |title=第二工学部の思い出 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/seisankenkyu/64/3/64_399/_pdf |journal=生産研究 |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=399 |via=JSTAGE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=沿革・歴代研究科長 |url=https://www.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/soe/about/history |access-date=2023-12-09 |website=東京大学工学部 |language=ja}}</ref> During the war, the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Imperial Army]] attempted to use the university's facilities several times, including plans to relocate the university to [[Sendai]] and use the [[Hongō campus|Hongo Campus]] as a fortress for the anticipated Allied landing, [[Operation Downfall]], to protect the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace|Imperial Palace]]. President [[Yoshikazu Uchida]] consistently denied these requests by persuading them of the importance of culture, education and research for the country's long-term development. In September 1945, efforts by Uchida and [[Shigeru Nambara]], Dean of the Faculty of Law, prevented the campus from becoming the [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers|Allied Headquarters]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=東京大学が接収を免れた経緯について（二） 内田 祥三 No. 661（昭和30年10月） {{!}} 一般社団法人学士会 北大・東北大・東大・名大・京大・阪大・九大 卒業生のためのアカデミック・コミュニティー・クラブ |url=https://www.gakushikai.or.jp/magazine/article/archives/archives_661/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=www.gakushikai.or.jp |language=ja}}</ref> Instead, the [[DN Tower 21|Dai-Ichi Seimei Building]] was chosen. Nambara succeeded Uchida as president in December 1945.

=== Post-war period ===
[[File:Nambara Shigeru.JPG|thumb|246x246px|[[Shigeru Nambara]], the first post-war president of the university (1945–1951)]]
During the [[Occupation of Japan|American occupation era]] following [[Surrender of Japan|Japan's defeat in World War II]], the university dropped the word 'imperial' from its name and reverted to its original name, University of Tokyo. During this period, under American pressure to remove the role pre-war education was believed to have played in sustaining the class structure, [[Educational reform in occupied Japan|Japan's education system was reformed]]. President Nambara was appointed as the chairman of the National Educational Reform Committee and implemented these changes.<ref name=":17">{{Cite journal |last=Imada |first=Akiko |date=March 2015 |title=President Shigeru Nambara's Initiative during the Founding of the University of Tokyo under the New Educational System: A Focus on Educational Reform |url=https://ump.p.u-tokyo.ac.jp/resource/06-%E4%BB%8A%E7%94%B0%EF%BC%88%E7%AC%AC%EF%BC%95%E5%8F%B7%EF%BC%89.pdf |journal=大学経営政策研究 |issue=5 |pages=85}}</ref> As a result, UTokyo under merged with two [[Higher school (Japan)|Higher Schools]], which were university preparatory boy's boarding schools and thus became a four-year university instead of three-year as it is today in 1949. One of the higher schools that merged with UTokyo, the [[First Higher School]], became the [[College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo|College of Arts and Sciences]].<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |title=第一高等学校ホームページ |url=http://museum.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ICHIKOH/home.html |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=museum.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp}}</ref> This new college, operating on the same campus of [[University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus|Komaba]] as the higher school, took on the responsibility of educating all undergraduates for the first year and a half of their degrees. At the request of [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers|SCAP]], the Department of Education was separated from the Faculty of Letters to establish the Faculty of Education.<ref name=":17" /> It was also during this period that UTokyo first opened its doors to female students. The first nineteen female students were matriculated in April 1946.<ref>{{Cite web |title=初めての東大女子入学生は19名 |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/kyodo-sankaku/ja/activities/model-program/library/UTW_History/Page03.html |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=東京大学男女共同参画室 |language=ja}}</ref>

==== University of Tokyo Struggles ====
{{Main article|1968–1969 Japanese university protests}}
[[File:Yasuda Auditorium - Tokyo University 4.jpg|thumb|[[Yasuda Auditorium]] became the main site of fierce clashes between protesters and riot police.]]
The 1960s saw an intensification of student protests across the world, including the [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|Anti-Vietnam War protests]] and the [[May 68|May 68 events]] in France. This zeitgeist of the era was prominently felt in Japan as well, symbolised by the [[Anpo protests|1960 Anpo protests]], in which the death of a UTokyo student, [[Michiko Kanba|Michiko Kamba]], caused public outrage. In 1968, the {{Nihongo|University of Tokyo Struggles|東大紛争|Tōdai Funsō}} began with medical students demanding improvements in internship conditions, in which medical students were forced to work long hours without being paid before being licensed as a doctor.

The conflict intensified with the indefinite strike decision by the students in January 1968 and escalated further following a clash between the students and faculty. Tensions peaked when radical students, most of whom were members of the [[Zenkyōtō]] (the All-Campus Joint Struggle Committees), occupied [[Yasuda Auditorium]], leading the university to eventually call in [[riot police]] in June— a move seen as abandoning university autonomy. Efforts to resolve the situation began with the resignation of university executives and the appointment of Ichiro Kato as interim president, who started negotiations. The conflict largely ended in January 1969 after a full-scale police operation to remove the occupying students. This operation involved more than 8,500 riot police officers confronting students who fought back with [[Molotov cocktail]]s and marble stones taken from the auditorium's interior.<ref>{{Cite web |title=9章 東大紛争-ビジュアル年表(戦後70年)：朝日新聞デジタル |url=http://www.asahi.com/special/sengo/visual/page41.html |access-date=2023-12-09 |website=www.asahi.com}}</ref> Prime Minister [[Eisaku Satō|Eisaku Sato]], who was an alumnus of UTokyo himself, visited the site the day after the protesters in the auditorium were forcibly removed, and decided to cancel that year's admission process. This led top highschool students to apply reluctantly to other universities such as [[Kyoto University]] and [[Hitotsubashi University]], resulting in many applicants who would have been admitted to those universities under normal circumstances failing to gain admission, since applicants are not allowed to apply to multiple prestigious national universities in Japan.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-27 |title=東大入試中止、そのとき受験生は——コロナ禍を超える1969年大学入試の混乱 |url=https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/85694 |access-date=2023-12-09 |website=AERA dot. (アエラドット) |language=ja}}</ref> The aftermath saw 633 prosecutions, and varied sentences, marking a turbulent chapter in the university's history.<ref>{{Cite web |title=テレビで生中継された重大事件簿「東大安田講堂事件」／ホームメイト |url=https://www.homemate-research-tv-station.com/useful/12382_facil_085/ |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=www.homemate-research-tv-station.com}}</ref>

=== 21st century ===
==== Women's education ====
The university first admitted female students in 1946. While the student body has remained predominantly male, various attempts have been made to achieve a more equal gender ratio. In 2023, women made up 23 per cent of first-year undergraduates, the highest percentage in the university's history.<ref>{{Cite web |last=日本放送協会 |date=2023-04-12 |title=東京大学で入学式 女子学生の割合 過去最高の23％ {{!}} NHK |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20230412/k10014036201000.html |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=NHKニュース}}</ref> A quarter of graduate students were female in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=東大でお待ちしております ～誰もが活躍できるキャンパスを目指して、松木則夫 男女共同参画室長より～ |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/kyodo-sankaku/ja/campus-voice/s0902_00002.html |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=東京大学男女共同参画室 |language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=データ集 |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/kyodo-sankaku/ja/about/publicity/index_00002.html |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=東京大学男女共同参画室 |language=ja}}</ref>

==== Reforms in the 21st century ====
[[File:Hyper-Kamiokande scheme.png|thumb|186x186px|UTokyo's [[Kamioka Observatory|Kamiokande project]] detected cosmic [[neutrino]]s for the first time in human history and later proved neutrinos have mass, resulting in Nobel Prizes in 2003 and 2015.]]
When the British magazine Times Higher Education first published its world university rankings in partnership with QS in 2004, the University of Tokyo was ranked 12th in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=QS Ranking 2004 - Results |url=https://www.universityrankings.ch/results/QS/2004 |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=universityrankings.ch |language=en}}</ref> In the latest 2024 edition of the rankings, it is ranked 29th.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-25 |title=World University Rankings |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2024/world-ranking |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Times Higher Education (THE) |language=en}}</ref> QS, now with its [[QS World University Rankings|own rankings]], placed the UTokyo at 28th.<ref>{{Cite web |title=QS World University Rankings 2024 |url=https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2024 |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Top Universities |language=en}}</ref> As these numbers suggest, there is a widely shared concern that the university is falling behind its counterparts in the world, and in the future it may struggle to provide a suitable environment for quality education and world-class research.<ref>{{Cite web |title=駒場をあとに「惜別の辞に代えて」 - 教養学部報 - 教養学部報 |url=https://www.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/info/about/booklet-gazette/bulletin/598/open/598-1-1.html |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=www.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp}}</ref>

UTokyo faces a challenging reality. [[Lost Decades|Japan's long-lasting economic downturn since the 1990s]] has led to Japanese companies less willing to invest in research and development than before.<ref>{{Cite web |title=科学技術指標2021・html版 {{!}} 科学技術・学術政策研究所 (NISTEP) |date=August 8, 2014 |url=https://www.nistep.go.jp/research/science-and-technology-indicators-and-scientometrics/indicators |access-date=2023-11-10}}</ref> Additionally, the government's Management Expense Grant ({{lang|ja|運営費交付金}}) has been reduced by one per cent annually since 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Takeuchi |first=Kenta |date=2019 |title=国立大学法人運営費交付金の行方 — 「評価に基づく配分」をめぐって — |url=https://www.sangiin.go.jp/japanese/annai/chousa/rippou_chousa/backnumber/2019pdf/20190603067.pdf}}</ref> This policy, ostensibly aimed at decreasing the university's reliance on the grant and fostering greater independence, has been blamed as one of the main reasons for the decline in the university's competitiveness.<ref>{{Cite web |title=17年度国立大授業料 |url=https://eic.obunsha.co.jp/resource/topics/1004/0401.pdf |access-date=10 November 2023 |website=旺文社 教育情報センター}}</ref>

To address these challenges, UTokyo has implemented various reforms. In 2004, the University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC) was established. This venture capital firm, affiliated with the university, supports entrepreneurship arising from UTokyo's research and development, aiming to drive innovation across society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UTEC-The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners Co., Ltd. |url=https://www.ut-ec.co.jp/english/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=UTEC-The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners Co., Ltd.}}</ref> In 2006, the first phase of development was completed at [[Kashiwa Campus, University of Tokyo|Kashiwa Campus]]. Situated in the suburb of [[Kashiwa]], this research-focused campus spans 405,313 square metres (100 acres) and has been at the forefront of advanced scientific research since its inception.<ref>{{Cite web |title=柏キャンパス – 柏キャンパス |url=https://www.kashiwa.u-tokyo.ac.jp/about_kashiwa_campus/kashiwa_campus/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |language=ja}}</ref> In 2010, in an attempt to further internationalise and diversify its student body, the university increased its autumn enrollment opportunities for international students.<ref>{{Cite web |last=東京大学広報室 |date=2010-10-25 |title=「特集：■平成22年度秋季学位記授与式・卒業式■平成22年度秋季入学式」（PDF）|url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/content/400004878.pdf |access-date=November 3, 2023 |website=『学内広報』第1404号}}</ref> UTokyo plans to increase the proportion of female faculty members to above a quarter by newly creating positions for 300 female lecturers by 2027.<ref>{{Cite web |last=日本放送協会 |date=2022-11-27 |title=東京大学 女性の教授と准教授 約300人採用へ |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20221127/k10013904891000.html |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=NHKニュース}}</ref> In 2021, the newly elected President [[Teruo Fujii]] announced the UTokyo Compass, a guiding framework for the university during his tenure, focusing on diversity, dialogue, and creating a better future.<ref name="The University of Tokyo">{{Cite web |title=The University of Tokyo |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/utokyo-compass.html |access-date=2023-12-09 |website=The University of Tokyo |language=en}}</ref> It emphasises the university's autonomy and creativity in a new era, advocating multifaceted perspectives on knowledge, people, and places. The Compass encourages dialogue throughout the university and society as a pivotal tool for understanding and questioning, fostering inclusivity, and tackling global challenges. In his announcement, he pledged to make UTokyo 'a university that anyone in the world would like to join'.<ref name="The University of Tokyo"/>
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