Browse the full results of theÌýJapanÌýUniversity Rankings 2025

°Õ³ó±ðÌýÌÇÐÄVlogÌýJapan University Rankings use aÌýbalanced scorecard approach, with 16Ìýindividual performance indicators combining toÌýcreate anÌýoverall score that reflects the broad strength ofÌýan institution. The overall methodology explores four key areas, which we call pillars.

Now in its eighth edition, the ranking is designed to answer the questions that matter most to students and their families when making one of the most important decisions of their lives – who to trust with their education.Ìý

Resources

This pillar includes metrics onÌýfinance (income) per studentÌý(8%), which shows whether the institution has the money to effectively deliver teaching, and theÌýratio ofÌýfaculty members to studentsÌý(8%), which gives a sense of whether the college has enough teachers to teach. We also look at theÌýscholarly outputÌý(7%)ÌýandÌýresearch grants per member of staffÌý(5%)Ìýat each institution. Having faculty who are experts in their academic fields can significantly enhance a student’s educational experience. The final metric measures the nationalÌýmock university exam scoresÌý(6%)Ìýreceived by institutions’ entrants toÌýget an indication of the academic calibre required to gain admission to a particular university and its popularity among top students.

Engagement

This pillar measures opinions of the university from two sources: the High School Advisors Survey, and the Japan Student Survey. The High School Advisors Survey gathers the views of student careers advisers from between 1,000 and 2,000 Japanese secondary schools each year. It asks advisers to name up to 15Ìýuniversities that they believe teach students to the highestÌýglobal standardsÌý(6%), and up to 15 universities that they think are best atÌýdeveloping students’ abilitiesÌý(6%). We are also using data from the past two years of our student survey. Responses to seven questions are used in three metrics in the following manner:

• °Õ³ó±ðÌýengagement metricÌý(6%)Ìýuses scores from four questions, asking to what extent teaching at the university (1)Ìýsupports critical thinking, (2)Ìýsupports making connections among the things students have learned, (3)Ìýsupports applying the students’ learning to the real world and (4)Ìýoffers classes that challenge the students.
• °Õ³ó±ðÌýinteraction metricÌý(6%)Ìýuses scores from two questions, asking how many opportunities the students had to (1)Ìýinteract with the staff and faculty and (2)Ìýcollaborate with their peers.
• °Õ³ó±ðÌýrecommendation metricÌý(6%)Ìýuses scores from one question, which asks how likely students would be to recommend their university to friends or family.

Outcomes

This pillar looks at the overallÌýacademic reputation (8%)Ìýof the university in Japan, based on votes from Japanese scholars inÌýTHE’s annual Academic Reputation Survey of leading academics worldwide, which helps us determine which institutions have the best reputation for excellence in teaching. We also consider theÌýreputation of the university among employersÌý(8%)ÌýtoÌýget a sense of whether the university produces graduates the market wants. This is based on a survey of human resources departments fromÌýmore thanÌý700 listed and non-listed companies. Each department was asked to identify up to 10Ìýuniversities they considered the best based on the strengths of their employees from those institutions. Each department then completed a survey for each of the universities that it identified, rating the employees from these institutions in several areas.

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Environment

This pillar looks at the make-up of the student and staff body at each campus, helping students determine whether they will find themselves in a diverse, supportive and inclusive university environment. We examine the proportions ofÌýinternational studentsÌý(5%)ÌýandÌýinternational staffÌý(5%)Ìýon campus, which are key indicators of whether the university is able to attract talent from across the world. It also demonstrates which institutions have cultivated a multicultural campus where students from different backgrounds have the opportunity to learn from one another. We are also looking at two dimensions of internationalisation: the number of students in various types ofÌýinternational exchange programmesÌý(5%), and the number ofÌýcourses taught in a language other than JapaneseÌý(5%).

Note:ÌýWe have now returned toÌýusingÌýthe latest reportedÌýnumbersÌýof studentsÌýparticipating in international exchange programmes, afterÌýusing historic data for the previous two editions of the ranking (because those numbers were significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic).Ìý°Õ³ó±ðÌýfigures used in this edition relate to the 2023 academic year.

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Data sources

Data for the rankings come from a variety of sources. These include self-submitted data from the institutions themselves as well as data gathered from Elsevier, Benesse Corporation, Nikkei Human Resources, the Japanese government and theÌýTHEÌýAcademic Reputation Survey. Our data are, in most cases, normalised so that the value we assign in each metric can be compared sensibly with other metrics.

Rankings table

Pillar scores are provided only when the university is in the top 150 for that pillar, and those ranked below the top 100 overall are given a banded score.ÌýThe table can be ordered by overall or pillar scores, and filtered by prefecture.Ìý