University of Tokyo Climbs Again in World Rankings
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University of Tokyo on the Rise
The University of Tokyo rose two places to twenty-sixth in the Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings for 2026. Kyoto University was the second highest Japanese representative, although it fell six places to sixty-first. The two other institutions in the top 200 were Tōhoku University (103rd) and the University of Osaka (151st).
Anglo-American universities filled out the top 10, with the University of Oxford (Britain) topping the list for the tenth consecutive year, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States), Princeton University (United States), the University of Cambridge (Britain). The highest ranked Asian university was Tsinghua University (China), which placed twelfth, followed by Peking University (China) at thirteenth and National University of Singapore at seventeenth.
Japan had a total of 16 institutions in the top 1,000, including the private universities Juntendō University, Keiō University, and Waseda University.
World University Rankings 2026
| Rank (2025 Rank) | University (Country) |
|---|---|
| 1 (1) | University of Oxford (Britain) |
| 2 (3) | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States) |
| 3= (4) | Princeton University (United States) |
| 3= (5) | University of Cambridge (Britain) |
| 5= (3) | Harvard University (United States) |
| 5= (6) | Stanford University (United States) |
| 7 (7) | California Institute of Technology (United States) |
| 8 (9) | Imperial College London (Britain) |
| 9 (8) | University of California, Berkeley (United States) |
| 10 (10) | Yale University (United States) |
| 12 (12) | Tsinghua University (China) |
| 13 (13) | Peking University (China) |
| 17 (17) | National University of Singapore (Singapore) |
| 26 (28) | University of Tokyo (Japan) |
| 31 (30) | Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) |
| 61 (55) | Kyoto University (Japan) |
Created by Nippon.com based on data from the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Times Higher Education evaluates and ranks 2,191 universities across 115 countries and regions according to 18 performance indicators in five main areas of teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.
Top Japanese Universities in World University Rankings
26: University of Tokyo
61: Kyoto University
103: Tōhoku University
151: University of Osaka
201–250: Nagoya University
301–350: Institute of Science Tokyo, Kyūshū University
351–400: Hokkaidō University, University of Tsukuba
501–600: Juntendō University
601–800: Hiroshima University, Keiō University, Kobe University, University of Aizu
801–1000: Wakayama Medical University, Waseda University
Data Sources
- World University Rankings 2026 from Times Higher Education.
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: The University of Tokyo’s Yasuda Auditorium. © Pixta.)