Kyoto University: Japan's Academic Powerhouse

If you mention Kyoto University to Japanese people, the talk may quickly come round to Nobel prizes.

"Kyoto University has turned out a lot of Nobel prize winners, you know!" they always say. The implication is that the university is Japan's chief academic stronghold, a powerhouse not to be over-looked.

Actually, if you examine the facts, you'll find that their impression is a bit overblown. Of the seven Japanese who have won the Nobel prize, three graduated from Tokyo University and four from Kyoto University. So calling Kyoto University a factory of Nobel prize winners may be a bit exaggerated, but that's what most Japanese think.

A lot of it is due to the Japanese press, which likes to create a sensation by building up underdogs. They started mass producing the equation between Nobel prizes and Kyoto University in 1981, when Tomonaga Shinichirou, a graduate of the university, won a Nobel prize for physics.

Why did they do that? For just one purpose. They wanted to warn Tokyo University to be on its toes--Kyoto's catching up. It was all a press ploy, but the students and faculty of Kyoto University, known for being "good at the books but a bit naive," gladly went along.

"Tokyo University may be number one in Japan," most of them felt, "but look at us, we're number one in the world!" It was a way of raising their self-esteem and defying Tokyo University at the same time.

There are reasons for their "psychological complex."

Kyoto University was established in 1897, a full twenty years after Tokyo University, and partly in challenge to it. At his inauguration ceremony, the university's first president declared that the school's founding principle was "to respect the independence and spirit of autonomy of students more than Tokyo University does."

Tokyo University, for example, uses an academic year system under which any student whose grade average falls below 40 percent can be expelled, whereas Kyoto uses a credit system that gives students from three to six years to retake or review courses no matter how bad their grades are. Punishments are more flexible, too. Kyoto offers the three stages of reprimand, rustication and expulsion, whereas Tokyo has only expulsion.

Kyoto also adopts a principle of permissiveness in its departments. The Faculty of Law implemented a free elective system twenty years ago in which students can study any courses they want so long as they declare their intentions to the relevant professors at the end of the previous semester. Whether they attend classes and whether they are graded by reports or by tests are left up to the students. This method has since been widely followed by other departments.

Students in the Faculty of Science can decide how many years they need to graduate or whether they want to graduate at all. Even if they have completed all the required credits, the authorities have no right to demand that they leave.

For foreign students, applying to Kyoto University is more flexible than it is to other schools. Foreign students generally have to obtain a guarantee of acceptance from a professor before applying for admission to a Japanese university, but at Kyoto they can dispense with that procedure and apply to the school directly.

If this kind of freedom and permissiveness is abused, it may lead to a lack of discipline and methodicalness, but the authorities don't seem worried. They are confident that the people who choose to study at Kyoto University already possess an ability for independent thinking and judgment.

Tokyo University has traditionally been aimed at cultivating high-level civil officials and is closely tied to the government, but Kyoto University is different. Owing to their competitive relationship, it has often played a critical role, contending with the government and opposing authority. Only in that way can a scholar take part in truly independent academic research, it is believed.

Compared with those at other schools, the professors at Kyoto University seem more "temperamental" too. The university brochure describes them this way: "The majority are strong on theory but weak on practicality. They don't feel rushed and are highly persevering. As long as a question involves an academic principle they feel honor bound to pursue it, and something that seems insignificant to other people can be full of interest to them. . . ."

Is that why graduates of Kyoto University have won so many Nobel prizes? What connection is there between a school's academic achievements and the way it relates to the individuals who comprise it? It's a question worth pondering, but the clear fact remains that Kyoto University is an academic stronghold recognized as such not just in Japan but around the world.

The Research Institute for Humanistic Studies, in the Kitashirakawa area of Kyoto, is the major citadel for Chinese studies at the university. Its library of 410,000-some holdings related to Chinese studies is regarded as a treasure-house of world sinology. Among them are precious specimens of shell-and-bone writing and Han dynasty stone rubbings that cannot be found in China itself and photographs, maps, tape recordings and microfiche reproductions of material from Yunkang, Lungmen and Tunhuang brought back by Japanese researchers. These holdings, along with the fruits of intense research in the subject since World War Ⅱ, have made Kyoto University one of the top universities in the world in the study of classical Chinese literature and history.

Besides its solid academic environment, Kyoto University's unique humanistic atmosphere makes an indelible impression. "Kyoto is heartbreakingly beautiful, and the easygoing lifestyle of its people enables you to settle down quickly at your studies," says Chu Po-sung, a professor from National Taiwan University who has completed his course work for a doctorate at the school but has yet to obtain his degree.

As to the social value of earning a degree, his attitude is that a person's real knowledge is important too. Owing to history and tradition, the granting of degrees is viewed very differently in the United States and Japan, he maintains. "Over there it's proof of your ability to perform research, and here it's an evaluation of the results of your research. If you want to discuss value judgments, that's really up to the individual," he says matter-of-factly.

"Going to Kyoto means steeping yourself in learning and not just dipping into it" is his way of putting it. That thought can perhaps afford some enlightenment to people who would like to go to Kyoto University but are worried about its "reputation."

[Picture Caption]

The Research Institute for Fundamental Physics has become a memorial to the university's Nobel prize winners, three of whom studied here.

A student toils away at his books in the economics department. The peaceful surroundings make it easy to concentrate on studies.

When the electrical engineering department was renovated, the original structure was preserved along with a brick entrance that dates from Meiji era, indicating something of the university's respect for historical tradition.

The formalities involved in a chance meeting on campus remind one that the people of the Kansai region are considered particularly polite by other Japanese.

The main part of the university lies opposite this gate. The clocktower, built during the Meiji era, is generally recognized as the school's most distinctive building.

Respecting individual freedom as they do, school authorities rarely do more to motorbikes indiscriminately parked around the grounds than have a warning placed on them.

The Kansai region is where the country's Communist party originated. These oppositionist slogans are most likely the work of core party members.

Compared with Tokyo, Kyoto is less expensive and more provincial, but the cramped living quarters are still hard for the families of many overseas students to take.

The university's Faculty of Letters is home to the noted "Kyoto school" of criticism. Its Documentation Center for Oriental Studies, shown here, contains many precious holdings.

Philosopher's Way, near the Kitashirakawa area of Kyoto, is said to be where the master philosopher Nishida Kitarou once strolled and cogitated.

The Research Institute for Humunistic Studies houses a major collection of volumes and materials prized by sinologists the world over.

A student toils away at his books in the economics department. The peaceful surroundings make it easy to concentrate on studies.

When the electrical engineering department was renovated, the original structure was preserved along with a brick entrance that dates from Meiji era, indicating something of the university's respect for historical tradition.

The formalities involved in a chance meeting on campus remind one that the people of the Kansai region are considered particularly polite by other Japanese.

The main part of the university lies opposite this gate. The clocktower, built during the Meiji era, is generally recognized as the school's most distinctive building.

Respecting individual freedom as they do, school authorities rarely do more to motorbikes indiscriminately parked around the grounds than have a warning placed on them.

The Kansai region is where the country's Communist party originated. These oppositionist slogans are most likely the work of core party members.

Compared with Tokyo, Kyoto is less expensive and more provincial, but the cramped living quarters are still hard for the families of many overseas students to take.

The university's Faculty of Letters is home to the noted "Kyoto school" of criticism. Its Documentation Center for Oriental Studies, shown here, contains many precious holdings.

Philosopher's Way, near the Kitashirakawa area of Kyoto, is said to be where the master philosopher Nishida Kitarou once strolled and cogitated.

The Research Institute for Humunistic Studies houses a major collection of volumes and materials prized by sinologists the world over.