University of Tokyo campuses -- need help ASAP

First post- Woohoo

I got an offer to go study abroad at the University of Tokyo at the Komaba campus. Apparently, the main campus is supposed to be in a place called Hongo. I checked out their site for details, but they're rather ambiguous on what the campuses are all about, and the English is pretty bad.

Is Komaba the campus for all the scrubs who couldn't get into the main campus at Hongo, or is it the hub for learning for freshmen and sophomores are the university? The site suggests the latter, but I'm kind of skeptical.

I'm not going to leave the USA to hang out with U of Tokyo's rejects (If it is indeed the case that students at Komaba are rejects), but if Komaba is truly simply the place where international studies are based and where freshmen and sophomores are situated, then I have no problem and will give this opportunity serious consideration.

Let me know, guys.

You have some twisted thinking - Tokyo Uni has at least a dozen campuses across Tokyo, and dozen more facilities throughout Japan. Maybe you are studying something that isn't based at the main campus, or perhaps the fact you are not a Tokyo U. student means that you are not at the main campus.

How does a uni have rejects? Wouldn't that make them students at a different uni or not students at all?

The official University of Tokyo website states that there are two campuses, one in Komaba and one in Hongo.

At my university, there are three campuses. There is the one main campus, which is highly regarded as an academic school of very high merit, and two lesser schools for people less talented. I was thinking perhaps that the University of Tokyo operated in the same way. The people on the lesser campuses are rejects from the main campus at my University.

Zayn said:

I'm not going to leave the USA to hang out with U of Tokyo's rejects

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With an attitude like that maybe you shouldn't come at all. What are you talking about with 'rejects'?

Zayn said:

and two lesser schools for people less talented.

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I think you mean less pompous and conceited.

The way it usually goes is that subjects are grouped by campus. My own university (or at least one of them) had its biology and life sciences based in a different campus out in the country where they were better suited than the center-of-the-city science/tech/art campus.

TokyoU works in the same way, a majority of subjects are at the main campus, with others at other campuses around the place. Just so happens that the international lodge (their words, not mine) are at Komaba. Its still Tokyo University, just not the main campus.

It sounds like your university is not all the same Univeristy; if they are different "schools", then its a different system.

I don't like the original poster's comments and the wording "rejects" - University of Tokyo is one of the tops and you can either be able to enter or not enter at all. There's no "rejects". :frown:

Anyway, the main campus in Hongou has a very long history and as the university grows, it simply cannot accomodate all the fuculties, graduates schools and institites. That's the reason they have sevearl campus (not only Hongou and Komaba).
When you enter a Japanese university, the first two years are to be spent at kyouyou-akubu ("the Faculty of Arts" is the translation I found on the net but am not sure if it is correct), and from the 3rd year you are starting more specific study at the faculty.
Most faculties and graduates schools are in Hongou campus, and the Faculty of Arts is in Komaba.
(Note: There are three campuses within Hongou Campus.)


Hongou Campus (Hongou Campus)
[F] Law, Medicine, Engineering, Letters, Science, Economics, Education, Pharmaceutical Sciences
[G] Humanities and Sociology, Education, Law and Politics, Economics, Science, Engineering , Medicine, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Information Science and Technology, Interdisciplinary Information Studies, Public Policy
Yayoi Campus (Hongou)
[F] Agriculture
[G] Agricultural and Life Sciences
Asano Campus (Hongou)
[F] Science, Engineering
[G] Science, Engineering
Komaba Campus
[F]the Faculty of Arts, Mathematical Sciences
[G] Arts and Sciences, Science
Kashiwa Campus
[F] some labs from Science, Engineering
[G] Frontier Sciences

There are also Shirogane Campus and Nakano Campus, but there are no faculties nor grad school, just a few institutes belonging to University of Tokyo

東京大学 - Wikipedia
University of Tokyo - Wikipedia

I support the general consensus of the responders to the OP, but still:

Komaba is where the freshmen and sophomores are to study general requirement subjects. Later, students proceed to Hongou or other campuses or remain in Komaba, depending on what they major.

Lol so using your way of thinking, the fact that you got into the Komaba campus makes you one of the rejects too then?

Heh, you're funny dude. I echo what epigene-san posted. I was a bit confused at first with this kind of system too, but after a while I found out It's quite normal for the student to study their first and second year on a different campus and move on to another when they reach 3rd year. Theres a few University that uses that kind of system, that I know of.

On the side note, I was there for my nichiryuushiken. I must say its a nice place Rather interesting enviroment too. Before I went there I had high hopes for their classroom, and unfortunately their classroom didnt live up my expectation tho hahaha. The circle over there is really active, that's one thing I can be sure off. All the field are packed with people doing activities. Theres even one guy cross-dressed as a women, wearing a highschool girl uniform. He walked infront of me like it was nothing towards the tennis court when I had my inbetween-test break.

wikipedia said:

In 1947, after Japan's defeat in World War II, it assumed the original name again. With the start of the new university system in 1949, Todai swallowed up the former First Higher School (today's Komaba campus) and the former Tokyo Higher School, which henceforth assumed the duty of teaching first and second-year undergraduates, while the faculties on Hongo main campus took care of third and fourth-year students.

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For the record, Todai rejects are at Keio