Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (東京外国語大学, Tōkyō Gaikokugo Daigaku), often referred to as TUFS, is a specialist research university in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan.
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 shougunate's translation bureau set up in 1857.
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, Tōkyō gaikokugo gakkō) in 1899.
In 1999, the University celebrated both the 126th anniversary of its original establishment and the 100th anniversary of its independence. The campus was moved to its present location, where students can study in a modern, hi-tech environment.
Departments
There are 26 departments of language, i.e. the languages students can major at TUFS. Some languages are rarely taught in Japan or elsewhere the world.[3]
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.[4] The campus also features a library, gymnasium, sports field, cafeteria, and small shop, with another convenience store located adjacent to the North Arrival Court.
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.
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.[5][6]
School Festival (Gakkosai)
The School Festival of TUFS, Gakkosai, 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.
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
6th[8] out of all the 778[9] universities which existed as of 2010
Source
2010 Survey[8] 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
Notable alumni and faculty members
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(May 2022)
Okakura Kakuzō, Japanese scholar who contributed to the development of arts in Japan.Futabatei Schimei, Japanese novelistFiroz Mahmud, educator and visual artist from Bangladesh, learned Japanese language at Tokyo University of Foreign StudiesYukihide Takekawa, Japanese singer-songwriter Masahiko Shimada, Japanese novelist and winner of Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature
* 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 rankings
The university has been ranked 34th, 23rd and 20th out of 181 major universities during 2008–2010 in the ranking called "Truly strong universities(本当に強い大学)" 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 performance
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 rankings
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]
Popularity and 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]
↑ Private universities apply different kind of exams. Thus it's only comparable between universities in a same category.
↑ E.g. Yoyogi seminar published Hensachi (the indication showing the entrance difficulties by prep schools) rankings "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 April 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ 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. ASIN4753930181.
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