Tohoku University

2011 Tōhoku earthquake

Subsequent to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the university was declared closed until further notice, but with a tentative re-opening date of the end of the following April.^[5] The Aobayama, Katahira, Amamiya, and Kawauchi campuses are all at least 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) from the ocean, towards the mountains, and therefore suffered no damage resulting from the tsunami. No deaths or serious injuries within the faculty and student body were reported on campus grounds. However, earthquake damage lead to the closure of 27 buildings and caused millions of dollars of damage to equipment. Classes have resumed normally since early May 2011 and plans for restoring, reinforcing or replacing damaged buildings are underway.

General rankings

In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, it is ranked 103rd globally, making it the third-highest-ranking university in Japan, after the University of Tokyo (26th) and Kyoto University (61st).^[23] The Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings, which is entirely based on teaching, resources, educational outcome, environment, and engagement, unlike the world university rankings, placed Tohoku University 1st in Japan in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2025 (no ranking in 2024).^[24][25]

In the QS World University Rankings 2026, Tohoku University is ranked 109th globally and fifth in Japan, after UTokyo, KyotoU, OsakaU, and Tokyo Tech.^[26]

Subject rankings

More information Subject, Global ...

QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024[27] Subject Global National Arts & Humanities  =268  7 Linguistics  201–250  7–9 Archaeology  151–200  5–6 Architecture and Built Environment  151–200  5–7 History  101–150  4–6 Modern Languages  101–150  6 Engineering and Technology  89  4 Engineering – Chemical  101–150  4–7 Engineering – Civil and Structural  151–200  4–5 Computer Science and Information Systems  201–250  7 Engineering – Electrical and Electronic  =111  4 Engineering – Mechanical  =85  4 Life Sciences & Medicine  =155  4 Agriculture and Forestry  101–150  5 Anatomy and Physiology  51–100  3–4 Biological Sciences  151–200  4–7 Dentistry  51–100  2–4 Medicine  =167  6 Pharmacy and Pharmacology  151–200  3–6 Natural Sciences  =97  5 Chemistry  =101  6–7 Earth and Marine Sciences  101–150  3–6 Environmental Sciences  201–250  5–6 Geology  101–150  3–6 Geophysics  101–150  3–6 Materials Sciences  =50  4 Mathematics  151–200  4–7 Physics and Astronomy  50  5 Social Sciences & Management  =295  8 Economics and Econometrics  351–400  11 Law and Legal Studies  201–250  7–8 Sociology  151–200  5 Statistics and Operational Research  201–250  5 THE World University Rankings by Subject 2024[28] Subject Global National Arts & humanities  251–300  4 Clinical & health  126–150  4 Computer science  126–150  4–5 Engineering  59  3 Life sciences  101–125  4 Physical sciences  101–125  3 Social sciences  251–300  3–4

ARWU Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2023[29] Subject Global National Natural Sciences Mathematics  201–300  3–5 Physics  151–200  4–5 Chemistry  151–200  7–8 Earth Sciences  101–150  2–4 Ecology  401–500  4–5 Atmospheric Science  301–400  7–9 Engineering Mechanical Engineering  76–100  1 Electrical & Electronic Engineering  301–400  4–8 Telecommunication Engineering  51–75  1–2 Computer Science & Engineering  201–300  3–4 Civil Engineering  201–300  2–6 Chemical Engineering  201–300  2–5 Materials Science & Engineering  151–200  3–5 Nanoscience & Nanotechnology  201–300  2–4 Energy Science & Engineering  151–200  2–5 Environmental Science & Engineering  401–500  6 Biotechnology  151–200  1–2 Metallurgical Engineering  25  1 Life Sciences Biological Sciences  301–400  6–10 Human Biological Sciences  401–500  9–11 Veterinary Sciences  201–300  1–6 Medical Sciences Dentistry & Oral Sciences  76–100  5 Medical Technology  301–400  1–6 Social Sciences

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Research performance

Tohoku University is one of the top research institutions in Japan. According to Thomson Reuters, Tohoku University is the ninth most innovative university in the Asia-Pacific area.^[32] Its research excellence is especially distinctive in Materials Science (1st in Japan, third in the world), Physics (2nd in Japan, tenth in the world), Pharmacology & Toxicology (3rd in Japan, 64th in the world) and Chemistry (6th in Japan, 20th in the world).^[33]

Times Higher Education also reported that Tohoku University was ranked 3rd in Japan (201st - 250th in the world) for the World University Rankings 2022 by Subject: social sciences.^[34] The social sciences ranking includes the weightings such as Research: volume, income and reputation (accounts for 32.6 per cent) and Citations: research influence (accounts for 25 per cent).^[35]

In addition, Nature Index ranked Tohoku University as 4th in Japan (90th in the world, 38th in Asia Pacific) on 2023 tables: Institutions.^[36] The 2022 tables are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021. Before the 2022 edition, Nature Index also ranked Tohoku University as 5th in Japan (77th in the world, 28th in Asia Pacific) on 2021 tables: Institutions, that are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020.^[37]

According to the Qs World university rankings on 2012/9 surveyed about the general standards in Engineering&Technology field, Tohoku university was placed 56th (world), fifth (national).^[38]

As Tohoku University has been emphasizing 'practical' research, Tohoku received the top place for its number of patents accepted (324) during 2009 among Japanese Universities.^[39]

Graduate school rankings

Tohoku University Law School is one of the most famous Law schools in Japan, as it was ranked fifth in the passing rate of Japanese Bar Examination in 2020.^[40]

Alumni rankings

Mines ParisTech : Professional Ranking World Universities ranks Tohoku University as 13th in the world (5th in Japan) in 2011 in terms of the number of alumni listed among CEOs in the 500 largest worldwide companies.^[41]

Popularity and selectivity

Tohoku University is regarded as a selective university, with its faculty of medicine being particularly noted for its selectivity. It is usually ranked amongst the most selective STEM degrees in the country, alongside the medicine, engineering and science degrees at the University of Tokyo and the faculties of medicine of TMDU, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, and Keio.^[42]

Evaluation from business world

Sciences

• 
  Masataka Ogawa, chemist, former president, known for the discovery of rhenium
• 
  Koichi Tanaka, chemist, 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner
• 
  Akira Endo, biochemist, known for the discovery of first statin, 2008 Lasker Award and 2017 Gairdner Award winner
• 
  Atsuto Suzuki, physicist, 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics winner
• 
  Hideo Ohno, physicist, the 22nd president of Tohoku University

• Hitoshi Oshitani, scientist, virologist and public health expert
• Tetsuo Nozoe, chemist, known for hinokitiol
• Tsutomu Ōhashi, artist and scientist, Doctor of Agriculture
• Syun-Ichi Akasofu, geophysicist, the founding director of the International Arctic Research Center of UAF
• Hiroshi Maeda, pharmacologist and chemist, known for discovery of EPR effect
• Chen Wei-jao, a surgeon and president of National Taiwan University
• Lo Tung-bin, biochemist, pioneer in the research on proteins in Taiwan
• Susumu Satomi, a surgeon and president of Tohoku University
• Ryuta Kawashima, neuroscientist, currently resident professor, the supervisor of Nintendo DS gamesofts; Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! and Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain?
• Noriko Osumi, neuroscientist, the vice president of Tohoku University (2018–)
• Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, president of University of Tehran

Engineering

• 
  Kotaro Honda, inventor, former president, 1932 Nobel Prize in Physics nominee
• 
  Hidetsugu Yagi, engineer, mentor of Yagi–Uda antenna
• 
  Shun-ichi Iwasaki, engineer, pioneer of perpendicular recording and modern hard disk drives
• 
  Jun-ichi Nishizawa, engineer, known for inventing optical communication systems including optical fiber, laser diode and so forth, PIN diode and SIT/SITh
• 
  Fujio Masuoka, engineer, the developer of flash memory
• 
  Sumio Iijima, physicist, inventor of carbon nanotubes
• 
  Masatoshi Shima, inventor of CPU Intel 4004
• 
  Masato Sagawa, inventor of sintered NdFeB magnets, the winner of 2022 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering^[47]

• Shintaro Uda, an inventor of the Yagi-Uda antenna 1926, the ubiquitous television antenna
• Masayoshi Esashi, engineer, the global authority of Microelectromechanical systems
• Toshitada Doi, a pioneer in digital audio, originated Aibo the pet robot
• Fumihiko Imamura, civil engineer, the natural disaster expert for NHK after 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami^[48]
• Masataka Nakazawa, pioneer of optical solitons in high-speed optical communication in fiber optic networks and rare earth-doped optical amplifiers (such as EDFA)

Literature and arts

• 
  Lu Xun, the greatest writer in modern China
• 
  Hajime Tanabe, philosopher of science, member of Kyoto School
• 
  Ido Reizan, a journalist, writer, poet, and involved in Freedom and People's Rights Movement
• 
  Morio Kita, novelist, 1960 Akutagawa Prize winner
• 
  Terumi Tanaka former professor, Representative of Nihon Hidankyo, 2024 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo, Norway

Mathematics, economics and business

• 
  Hirofumi Uzawa, an economist, the father of Theoretical Economics in Japan
• 
  Shizuo Kakutani, mathematician, professor at Yale, known for Kakutani fixed-point theorem
• 
  Ryōji Chūbachi, a Japanese businessman, former vice chairman and president of Sony Corporation

• Nobuhiko Kawamoto, CEO of Honda Motor until 1995
• Su Buqing, a Chinese mathematician and former president of Fudan University
• Chen Jiangong, pioneer of modern Chinese mathematics
• Yasumasa Kanada, a mathematician most known for his numerous world records over the past two decades for calculating digits of π
• Shigeo Sasaki, a professor emeritus and mathematician who introduced the Sasaki manifold

Politics

• 
  Shigeyoshi Matsumae, a Japanese politician, electrical engineer, and founder of Tokai University
• 
  Yukio Edano, a Japanese politician and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet
• 
  Eisuke Mori, a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party
• 
  Masako Mori, a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party

• Kenya Akiba, a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party
• Masayuki Aoyama, Japanese politician in the House of Representatives
• Yoshihisa Inoue, Japanese politician of the New Komeito Party
• Akira Koike, a Japanese politician of Japanese Communist Party
• Sōichirō Miyashita, governor of Aomori Prefecture
• Mitsuru Sakurai, Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan
• Nori Sasaki [ja], Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan
• Emiko Okuyama, Mayor of Sendai, 2009–2017