Imperial Universities

The Imperial Universities (旧帝国大学, kyūteikokudaigaku) are Japan's seven oldest and most prestigious national universities, established between 1877 and 1939 during the Meiji and pre-war eras: the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Tohoku University, Hokkaido University, Osaka University, Nagoya University, and Kyushu University. These institutions remain Japan's highest-ranked universities, receiving the largest share of government research funding and producing the majority of Japan's Nobel laureates, prime ministers, and business leaders. The informal term 'Nanateidai' (七帝大, Seven Imperial Universities) remains widely used in Japanese society to describe this elite group.