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Hokkaido University
北海道大学
Motto:	少年よ、大志を抱け (Boys, Be Ambitious)
Established:	Founded March 1876, Chartered April 1, 1918
Type:	Public (National)
Endowment:	US$-- billion (JP¥-- billion)
President:	Saeki, Hiroshi
Staff:	6,250
Undergraduates:	11,153
Postgraduates:	9,128
Location:	Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan
Campus:	Urban, --acres (3.0 km²)
Athletics:	-- varsity teams
Mascot:	None
Website:	www.hokudai.ac.jp

Hokkaido University (北海道大学, Hokkaidō daigaku^?), or Hokudai (北大, Hokudai^?), is one of the leading national universities of Japan. It is situated in downtown Sapporo, just north of Sapporo Station, and stretching approximately 2.4 kilometers northward.

[edit] History

Main Gate, February 2005

Hokkaido University (Hokudai for short) was originally founded in 1876 as Sapporo Agricultural College (札幌農學校, Sapporo nōgakkō^?) by William S. Clark with the help of five faculty members and a first class size of 24 students. It became Hokkaido Imperial University (北海道帝國大學, Hokkaidō teikoku daigaku^?) on April 1, 1918, during the Taishō period. It was one of nine Imperial Universities. The School of Medicine was established in 1919, at which time the Agricultural College became the Faculty of Agriculture. This was followed by the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Science, and finally in 1947, the Faculty of Law and Literature. The current name of Hokkaido University also came into use in 1947. In 1953, the Graduate School was established.

The Hokkaido University Museum, Sapporo in Summer

Since 2004 the university has been incorporated as a National University Corporation under a new law which applies to all national universities. Although the incorporation has led to increased financial independence and autonomy, Hokkaido University is still partially controlled by the Japanese Ministry of Education.

[edit] Faculties and Graduate Schools

[edit] Faculties

• Letters
• Education
• Law
• Economics
• Medicine
• Dental Medicine
• Engineering
• Veterinary Medicine
• Fisheries Sciences
• Agriculture
• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Science

[edit] Graduate Schools

One of the many common greens. (June 2006)

• Letters
• Education
• Law
• Economics and Business Administration
• Medicine
• Dental Medicine
• Engineering
• Veterinary Medicine
• International Media and Communication
• Information Science and Technology
• Fisheries Sciences
• Environmental Earth Science
• Science
• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Agriculture
• Life Science
• Public Policy

[edit] Famous alumni

• Kanzo Uchimura, Christian evangelist, founder of Non-church Christianity Movement
• Akira Ifukube, composer
• Nitobe Inazo, the author of Bushido: the Soul of Japan, a Quaker
• Ryuzo Yanagimachi, cloning pioneer
• Mamoru Mohri, astronaut
• Arishima Takeo, novelist
• Hiroshi Ishii, computer scientist

[edit] Points of interest

• Hokkaido University Botanical Gardens

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hokkaido University

• Hokkaido University, official website
• Hokkaido University International Students Association (HUISA)

[edit] References

• Hokkaido University (March, 2005) Handbook for International Students
• Sapporo

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