Editing University of Tokyo (section)

=== Junior division ===
[[File:Komaba-campus icho namiki.JPG|thumb|Komaba Campus, where all undergraduates spend a year and a half]]
The matriculation ceremony takes place on April 12, the foundation day of the university.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-04-10 |title=東大の入学式は、なぜ12日開催なのか - 東大新聞オンライン |url=https://www.todaishimbun.org/entranceceremony20160410/ |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=www.todaishimbun.org |language=ja}}</ref> All first-year students are matriculated at the [[College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo|College of Arts and Sciences]] at [[University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus|Komaba]], which is a remnant of the time when the Komaba Campus served as the separate boarding school known as the [[First Higher School]] until 1949.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The University of Tokyo |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/chronology.html |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=The University of Tokyo |language=en}}</ref> There, they spend the first one and a half years of their degrees. Students are required to study a foreign language they have never learnt for at least a year, with classes formed based on their choices. Popular languages include Chinese, French, German, Korean, Spanish, and Russian. These classes are meant to be places where students can interact with peers from different backgrounds and forge long-lasting friendships, especially because they spend a considerable amount of time together. There is a tradition where the previous year's class ({{lang|ja|上クラ}}, ''uekura'') invites the juniors to overnight orientation camps ({{lang|ja|オリ合宿}}, ''ori gasshuku'') in early April.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-12 |title=クラス分け {{!}} キミの東大 高校生・受験生が東京大学をもっと知るためのサイト |url=https://kimino.ct.u-tokyo.ac.jp/kotohajime/college-classes/ |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=キミの東大 |language=ja}}</ref>

Intense academic competition is common among students in the junior division, as they face matriculation to the senior division ({{lang|ja|進学選択}}, ''shingaku sentaku'', or colloquially {{lang|ja|進振り}}, ''shinfuri'') in September of their second year, where they are assigned to departments based on their grades for the first one and a half years at Komaba.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-11-09 |title=進学選択 {{!}} キミの東大 高校生・受験生が東京大学をもっと知るためのサイト |url=https://kimino.ct.u-tokyo.ac.jp/kotohajime/to-3rd-year/ |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=キミの東大 |language=ja}}</ref> The Department of Information Science, the Faculty of Medicine, and the Department of Sociology are amongst the most selective departments in the ''shingaku sentaku''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=[入門駒場ライフ] 科類・進学選択について｜受験生・新入生応援サイト2023｜東京大学消費生活協同組合 |url=https://text.univ.coop/puk/START/utcoop/karui.html |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=text.univ.coop}}</ref>

==== Student housing ====
Despite its roots as a boarding school, most undergraduates at the university either live with their families at home or in non-university accommodation. Since the closure of the {{Interlanguage link|Komaba Dormitory|ja|東京大学駒場寮}} (駒場寮, ''Komaba-ryo'') in August 2001, there has been no on-campus accommodation for domestic students at the university. There are four university dormitories available for undergraduate students: Mitaka, Toshima, Oiwake and Mejirodai.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Housing Office {{!}} Housing Information {{!}} Accommodations Offered by UTokyo |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/adm/housing-office/en/housing/shukusha/index.html |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=www.u-tokyo.ac.jp}}</ref> In 2021, approximately five per cent of the undergraduate students lived in one of the university dormitories.<ref>{{Cite web |title=大学案内・選抜要項・募集要項 |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/admissions/undergraduate/e01_06_01.html |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=東京大学 |language=ja}}</ref> The university offers more options for international students, with on-campus dormitories available for them at Komaba and Kashiwa.

==== Student newspapers and magazines ====
''The Todai Shimbun'' (東大新聞) is the oldest university newspaper still in operation, with its first issue in 1920.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-19 |title=団体紹介 - 東大新聞オンライン |url=https://www.todaishimbun.org/about/ |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=www.todaishimbun.org |language=ja}}</ref> The editing committee of the newspaper has produced multiple central figures in the country's publishing industry. [[Recruit (company)|Recruit]], a human resources company with the 13th largest market capitalisation among all publicly traded companies in the country as of March 2024, spun off from ''the Todai Shimbun''<nowiki/>'s advertisement branch in 1961.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-11-06 |title=リクルートが生まれた場所、東京大学新聞 リクルート創業者 江副浩正氏の「唯一の上司」 - 東大新聞オンライン |url=https://www.todaishimbun.org/amano1102/ |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=www.todaishimbun.org |language=ja}}</ref> There are several other newer campus newspapers and magazines, the most notable of which is ''the Kokasha'' ({{lang|ja|恒河沙}}).<ref>{{Cite web |title=沿革 – 時代錯誤社 |url=https://jidaisakugosha.net/?page_id=1444 |access-date=2023-12-29 |language=ja}}</ref> ''The Kokasha''<nowiki/>'s start-of-term issues include evaluations of lecturers by students from the previous year, and are widely read by students in the junior division to decide which modules to take at the beginning of terms. Additionally, there are several other relatively new student magazines, such as the biscUiT,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-10-01 |title=About - biscUiT |url=https://utbiscuit.xxxx.jp/home/about/ |access-date=2023-12-29 |language=ja}}</ref> ''the Todai Shimpo'' and ''the Komaba Times''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.komabatimes.com/ |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=The Komaba Times |language=en}}</ref> Apart from those, student web media such as ''the UT-base''<ref>{{Cite web |title=En page |url=http://ut-base.info/en |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=UT-BASE}}</ref> and ''the UmeeT'' are widely read by students.