(Kawaijuku’s ranking / source: Nigel Ward’s Homepage)
Background: In 2001 the Ministry of Education proposed to change the funding model to strengthen the “Top 30” universities. Among the various “Top 30” lists floated at the time, this one, attributed to the prep school Kawaijuku is probably the most useful.
It was based on four factors: research funding (Kaken only), citations of research publications, entrance exam difficulty, and a reputation survey.
Note: This ranking was done to identify “world class research universities” as seen in strengths in science and engineering. For public universities this gives a reasonable approximation to an overall quality ranking, because Japanese public universities have fairly similar profiles, and so strength in one area tends to be matched by strength across the board, including in recruiting good students and in educating them well.
Private universities, however, tend to have different profiles, including strengths in education and in the humanities which are not reflected in this ranking. Thus in a list of the truly best, Waseda andKeio would probably belong near the top, and other private universities, including Sophia, International Christian University, Meiji, and Nihon, would probably also be mentioned. Some smaller, specialized universities, such as The Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, The University of Electro-Communications,The Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and Hitotsubashi University would probably also deserve a place.
Source: Nigel Ward’s Homepage; Kawaijuku
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Further reading:
Japan’s top 20 universities ranking (4ICU rankings)
Ichi-ryu daigaku: Top Ranking Universities in Japan
Why Japanese universities have been left behind in global rankings
Why University of Tokyo (Todai) is entrenched at the top of the educational hierarchy