Waseda University

Waseda University, abbreviated as Waseda(早稲田) or , is a private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by the former Prime Minister of Japan, Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. Waseda is organized into thirty-six departments: thirteen undergraduate schools and twenty-three graduate schools. As of May 2023, there were 38,776 undergraduate students and 8,490 graduate students. In addition to a central campus in Shinjuku, the university operates campuses in Chūō, Nishitōkyō, Tokorozawa, Honjō, and Kitakyūshū. Waseda also operates twenty-one research institutes at its main Shinjuku campus. The Waseda University Library is collectively one of Japan's largest libraries and currently hold some 4.5 million volumes and 46,000 serials. Waseda is regarded as one of the most selective and prestigious universities in Japanese university rankings, particularly for its humanities and social sciences education. It is often ranked alongside Keio University, its rival, as the best private university in Japan. In 2020–2024, Waseda University ranked 189th in the QS World University Rankings. Waseda is selected as one of the “Top Type” (Type A) universities under MEXT's Top Global University Project. The university established dual degree programs with overseas institutions, including National University of Singapore, Peking University, Korea University, and National Taiwan University. Waseda University is one of the few prestigious universities in Japan to receive accreditation from the prestigious AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) of the United States of America which means it is one of the top 5-6% business schools in the world. The university's alumni include 9 prime ministers of Japan, a number of important figures of Japanese literature, including Haruki Murakami, and many CEOs, including Tadashi Yanai, the CEO of UNIQLO, Nobuyuki Idei, the former CEO of Sony, Takeo Fukui, the former president and CEO of Honda, Norio Sasaki, the former CEO of Toshiba, Lee Kun-hee and Lee Byung-chul, the chairman and founder of Samsung Group, Shin Kyuk-ho, the founder of Lotte Group and Lotte World Tower. Mikio Sasaki, the former chairman of Mitsubishi, and Hiroshi Yamauchi and Shuntaro Furukawa, former and current presidents of Nintendo respectively.