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University of Tokyo leads the 571 Public universities in Japan at #36 in the QS World University Rankings 2026. Kyoto University (QS World #51) and Institute of Science Tokyo (QS World #84) complete the top three. The universities on this list offer 537 matching courses between them.
571 universities · ranked best first
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Public University · 15 courses
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16 of these universities hold a QS World position, from #36 (University of Tokyo) to #539 (Hitotsubashi University); they are listed first, in that order. The rest are ordered by research impact. University of Tokyo has the largest research record in this group, with 47,606,905 citations and an h-index of 1,406. 54 universities have neither a QS position nor a research record yet and appear at the end, marked "Not yet ranked".
The split is 571 public to 0 private institutions. By location, Kantō (2), Kansai (2) and Tōhoku (1) account for the most of those we can place. The oldest is Otani University, founded in 1665. University of Tokyo is the largest, with 28,000 students.
By level: 268 bachelor's, 150 master's, 31 phd / doctorate and 12 professional. The most common subjects are Social Sciences & Psychology (92), Medicine & Health Sciences (82), Business & Management (57) and Education (42). The usual length is 4 years and 1–2 years. 99% are full-time and 4 can be studied online. Start dates lean to Fall (100% of courses with a stated intake) and Spring (91% of courses with a stated intake). Aoyama Gakuin University offers the widest choice, with 38 of these courses.
We hold indicative fees for 5 of these universities. University of Tokyo is the least expensive at USD 5,000 a year and Tohoku University the most at USD 5,000; the middle of the range is about USD 5,000. Check each university's own fee page before you budget — figures change every year.
University of Tokyo (QS World #36), Kyoto University (QS World #51) and Institute of Science Tokyo (QS World #84) lead this list. QS World positions come first; the rest are ranked by research impact.
Of those with published fees, University of Tokyo is the least expensive at about USD 5,000 a year. Fees are indicative — confirm on the university's site.
571 public and 0 private universities are on this list.
Most listed courses run 4 years, with 1–2 years the next most common.
Fall is the main intake — 100% of courses with a stated start date begin then, and Spring is the second.
4 of these courses are listed as online.
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