Imperial Universities


The Imperial Universities were founded by the Empire of Japan between 1886 and 1939, seven in the Mainland Japan, one in Korea under Japanese rule and one in Taiwan under Japanese rule. They were run by the imperial government until the end of World War II.
Today, the Imperial Universities are often described as the former Imperial Universities, and are viewed as some of the most prestigious in Japan. These former imperial universities are generally perceived as Japan’s equivalent of the Ivy League in the U.S. and Golden Triangle in the U.K. The alumni club of these nine imperial universities is Gakushikai.
Unlike Taihoku Imperial University in then-Japanese Taiwan, the Keijō Imperial University in then-Japanese Korea was closed by United States Army Military Government in Korea with US Military Ordinance No. 102. Seoul National University was built by merging nine schools in Seoul and the remaining properties of Keijō Imperial University.

Members

History

Athletic Competition

The athletic competition started among these seven schools in Japan under the sponsorship of Hokkaido University, formerly known as National Athletic Competition of the Seven Universities in 1962. Its name was later recoined as Seven Universities Athletic Meet in 2002. The competition is commonly called the Competition of the Seven Imperial Universities or the national athletic meet of the seven former imperial universities.