Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

The University is the oldest academic institution devoted to international studies in Japan. It began as Institute for Research of Foreign Documents (蛮書調所, Bansho Shirabesho), a Tokugawa shogunate's translation bureau set up in 1857.

It was subsequently established as an independent educational and research institution with the name Tokyo School of Foreign Languages (東京外国語学校, Tokyo Gaikokugo Gakko) in 1873 and gained independence in 1899.

In 1949, it was formed as a new-system university as the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (東京外国語大学, Tokyo Gaikokugo Daigaku), with only one undergraduate program with twelve departments. In 1999, the University celebrated both the 126th anniversary of its original establishment and the 100th anniversary of its independence. In 2000, the campus was moved to its present location, where students can study in a modern, hi-tech environment.

In 2012, the Faculty of Foreign Languages was reorganized and the School of Language and Culture Studies and the School of International and Area Studies were established. In 2019, the School of Japan Studies was established.

Research

Weekly Diamond reported that TUFS has the 5th highest research standard in Japan in terms of research fundings per researcher in COE Program. In the same article, it's also ranked 3rd in terms of the quality of education by GP funds per student.

Business

In the 2010 Survey by Weekly Economist on the ranking of universities according to the numerousness of the number of the officers & managers produced by each university in consideration of the number of graduates, TUFS was ranked 6th out of all the 778 universities which existed as of 2010.