History and Vision

Tohoku University

Tohoku University was founded in Sendai as the third Imperial University in 1907. It became the first Japanese university to accept female students. Under its "Research First", "Open-Door" and "Practice-Oriented Research and Education" principles, Tohoku University has become one of Japan's leading universities, with 10 Faculties, 16 Graduate Schools, 3 Professional Graduate Schools, 6 Research Institutes and affiliated research and education centers. The number of students enrolled at Tohoku University is 17,865 including 1,663 international students, and the number of academic and administrative staff is 6,442 including 321 international academic staff. Tohoku University has exchange agreements with 557 institutions in 50 countries and regions and has 16 overseas offices in 9 countries (as of January 5, 2015) . 

Tohoku University has been committed to the "Research First" principle and "Open Door" policy since its foundation, and is internationally recognized for its outstanding standards in education and research. The university contributes to world peace and equity by devoting itself to research useful in solving societal problems, and educating human resources in leadership skills.

 

Faculty Development History
Of Graduate School / Faculty of Arts and Letters

June 1907	Tohoku Imperial University was founded.
August 1922	The Faculty of Law and Letters of Tohoku Imperial University was founded.
April 1949	Tohoku University (under the old education system) was abolished. Tohoku University (under the new education system) was established. "The Faculty of Law and Letters was relaunched as the Faculty of Arts and Letters under the reform of the educational system."
September 1973	The university was moved to its present location (Kawauchi Campus).
1996	The Japanese Culture Study Institute was abolished simultaneously with the start of the Center for Northeast Asian Studies as an advanced research institute independent of the Faculty of Arts and Letters.
April 1997	The undergraduate school with 36 small courses was reorganized and unified into one Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences with 16 large courses. The graduate school was also reorganized into 15 majors and 4 majors.
April 2000	The organization of the graduate faculty was completed.
April 2004	Tohoku University was reorganized into a national university corporation.