Times Higher Education’s first Japan University Rankings reveal the best institutions in the nation after THE analysed 406 universities and ranked 150 of them.

The rankings, which were produced in partnership with Japanese education company Benesse, are based on the teaching and learning environments that each university offers students.

The Japan University Rankings are based on four broad “pillars” (resources, engagement, outcomes and environment) and have a different methodology to the THE World University Rankings. Click here to read the full methodology.

Japan is a country that successfully maintains its ancient traditions alongside its identity as a nation of technological innovation. This kind of contrast may also be seen in the country’s higher education institutions as they develop their research output and international outreach while preserving Japan’s cultures and values.

10. Waseda University

In 1937, a monument was inscribed at Waseda University in calligraphy by Japanese statesman Hisoka Maejima and installed near the main gate. It held that its mission would be the fostering of good citizens, and an independence of scholarship that would contribute to the world: a mission it still holds today.

First established as Tokyo College in early 1882, the institution was renamed Waseda Daigaku (Waseda University) in 1902, after acquiring official designation. The university library was also completed around this time, and schools of education, commerce and engineering were set up to complement its faculties of political science, law, English, natural science and literature.