Hokkaido University

The following departments offer postgraduate degrees taught entirely in English[9]

• Agriculture
• Chemical Sciences and Engineering
• Engineering
• Environmental Science
• Life Sciences
• Science
• Veterinary Medicine

Both international and domestic students may apply for graduate programs taught in English. Competitive scholarships are available for all graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in English degree programs, which range in amount from tuition discounts to full funding.

The university offers two programs aimed exclusively at international students: One, four-year undergraduate degree program, the Modern Japanese Studies Program (MJSP), and one, five-year degree program comprising both undergraduate- and graduate-level study, the Integrated Science Program (ISP). As with other English-based degree programs at the university, competitive scholarships are available for all graduate and undergraduate students, which range in amount from tuition discounts to full funding.

The Modern Japanese Studies Program is a bilingual, bachelor's degree program that aims to educate students about the history, culture, society, and political economy of modern Japan while raising them to fluency in the Japanese language. The program offers two majors, one in History and Culture and one in Society and Political Economy. The majors share coursework, so whichever of the previous specializations a student does not choose as their major becomes their minor.[10]

The Integrated Science Program is a multifaceted degree program that aims to provide students with a bachelor's degree in either biology, chemistry, or physics followed by their immediate enrollment in one of Hokkaido University's graduate schools. Through the unique, accelerated methodology of the program, students are able to graduate with a master's degree in five years (made up of three-and-a-half years of undergraduate study and one-and-a-half years of graduate study and research). It also aims to strengthen students' knowledge of English due to its importance as a scientific language.[11]

The university's Institute of Seismology and Volcanology was founded in 1998 in collaboration with several seismological observatories around Hokkaido. The institute is represented on the national Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction.[12]

In 2016, the university launched the Hokkaido Summer Institute, a three-month-long program from June to August which offers a variety of classes for both undergraduate and graduate students. Guest lecturers are invited from all over the world to share their expertise for the courses, which usually run for 1–2 weeks and grant students a small amount of academic credit. Both Japanese and foreign students participate in this unique program, which is conducted entirely in English.[13]

Golden ginkgo trees line the street at Hokkaido University in fall.

The main Sapporo campus is located just north of Sapporo Station, in the heart of Sapporo City. The entirety of the campus measures approximately 180 hectares and houses academic and administrative buildings, research laboratories, student dormitories, and farmland. The main academic buildings are found along a 1.5 kilometer stretch of road that runs from the Main Gate to the Kita 18 Gate, roughly encompassing the distance between Kita-Juni-Jo and Kita 18-jo subway stations on the Namboku Subway Line. A campus-wide bus service runs regular routes between the southern and northern end of the university, although access is restricted to university staff only.[14]

The abundance of accessible green space has continued to be popular not only among students, but also the general public, who can often be seen using the campus area in a similar way to a public park. Walking tours of the campus for interested foreign and domestic tourists are provided by several businesses in Sapporo, although no tour is needed to visit the campus.[15] Fall is an especially popular time for campus visits, with tourists and Sapporo residents flocking to get a view of the golden ginkgo trees that line Ginkgo Avenue.[16]

The campus is located in Hakodate, a city located in the southern part of Hokkaidō. The Faculty and Graduate School of Fisheries Science are located there. However, students of Fisheries Science start their education at the Sapporo campus in order to complete three semesters of compulsory liberal arts education courses and move to the Hakodate campus from the second semester of their sophomore year. As the minimum requirement to study at the Hakodate campus is only one year of a four-year bachelor's program, the turn-over rate of students entering and leaving the Hakodate campus is fairly high. To provide students in the Faculty and Graduate School of Fisheries Science with practical hands-on experience, the university has two fully operational research vessels, the Oshoru Maru and the Ushio Maru, based in nearby Hakodate harbor. Graduate students and professors also use these vessels to carry out their research. [17]

In order to raise awareness of the university internationally, as of June 2018 Hokkaido University was operating eight satellite offices worldwide. After opening its first overseas satellite office in Seoul, South Korea, Hokkaido University has also established satellite offices in Helsinki (Finland), Beijing (China), Lusaka (Zambia), Bandung (Indonesia), Quezon City (Philippines), Kamphaeng Saen (Thailand), and a special China Office in Beijing. Interested parties can not only obtain information regarding the university at these offices, but prospective students can also take university entrance exams there, a procedure which previously was only offered in Japan.[18]

In 2017, the CWTS Leiden Ranking ranked them at 120th in the world and 6th in Japan.[29] In 2018, QS World University Rankings ranked Hokkaido University at 122nd in the world (7th in Japan).

In 2019, the Times Higher Education(THE) Japan ranked them 5th in Japan.[30] Also in that year, they ranked as 6th or 7th in Japan according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), and between 151st and 200th in the world.

In 2013, their highest score in QS Ranking was for Faculty Student Score (88 out of 100). Their lowest was for International Faculty Score (13.5 out of 100).[31] In an effort to boost their International Faculty Score, Hokkaido has recently been selected to be part of Japan's Super Global Universities Program. This program provides special funding to hire international faculty.[32]

According to Thomson Reuters, Hokkaido is the 6th best research university in Japan.[20] Its research standard is especially high in Materials Science (7th in Japan, 86th in the world), Chemistry (8th in Japan, 52nd in the world), and Biology & Biochemistry (6th in Japan, 104th in the world).[33]

Weekly Diamond reported that Hokkaido has the 10th highest research standard in Japan in terms of research funding per researchers in the COE Program.[34]

According to the QS World university rankings in September 2012, Hokkaido University was placed 135th (worldwide) and 6th (in Japan) for general standards in engineering and technology.[35]

It also has a good research standard in Economics, as RePec ranked Hokkaido as the 16th best Economics research university in Jan 2011.[36]

As of 2021, two alumni and faculty members have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The university received attention in 2010 when Professor Akira Suzuki won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry jointly with Richard F. Heck and Ei-ichi Negishi.[37] Benjamin List, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is the principal investigator at the Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery of the Hokkaido University. Also, Ei-ichi Negishi, special invited professor at the Institute for Catalysis (ICAT) of the Hokkaido University, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry as well.

In addition, the Hokkaido Imperial University alumni Kōichi Ichikawa (市川 厚一) completed the first artificial induction of cancer in history in 1915 and discovered the cause of cancer, but in 1926 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Johannes Fibiger. A few years later, everyone discovered that Fibiger's research was completely wrong. Until the middle of the 20th century, Japanese scientists missed the Nobel Prize many times because of racial discrimination.[38][39]

Hokkaido Law School was ranked 6th in 2010 (8th in 2009) in the passing rate of Japanese Bar Examination.[48]

Eduniversal ranked Hokkaido as 2nd in the rankings of "Excellent Business Schools nationally strong and/or with continental links " in Japan.[49]

Hokkaido is one of the most selective universities in Japan. Its entrance difficulty is usually considered one of the top in Japan.[50][51]