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According to prefecture-of-origin data released by Nagoya University in its 2027 school guide, of the 2,176 students who enrolled in 2026, 1,132 (52.46%) came from Aichi Prefecture. Gifu ranked second, Shizuoka third, and Mie fourth, with the Tokai region dominating the top spots — the four Tokai prefectures together accounted for 73.08% of enrollees — while students from the Kanto region made up just 6.67% and those from the Kinki region only 5.42%. On 5ch, opinions split over whether to view this “local concentration” as a strength or a weakness, with the discussion spreading to Aichi’s cost of living, job prospects, and comparisons with other former imperial universities.
Nagoya University released prefecture-by-prefecture enrollment figures for its 2,176 students who entered in 2026, in the 2027 edition of its university guide. Aichi, where the university is located, accounted for half of the total (1,132 students, 52.46%), taking the top spot by an overwhelming margin over second place. What’s more, the top four prefectures were all in or neighboring the Tokai region, underscoring a pattern of “local concentration.”
Gifu came in second (166 students), Shizuoka third (147), and Mie fourth (132) — with the Tokai region occupying nearly all the top ranks, together making up 73.08% of the total (1,577 students). This reflects the university’s solid standing as the region’s top school.
Looking at the major metropolitan areas east and west: Kanto (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi) accounted for just 144 students (6.67%). Kinki (Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Shiga, Nara, Wakayama) was similarly small at 117 students (5.42%).
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
I mean, there's no real point in going out of your way to attend Nagoya University.
The thing is, even humanities majors have to take math on the secondary exam. And it's a university with especially small humanities departments, too.
Once you subtract rent and cost of living from income, Aichi actually leaves you with more disposable income.
Even if you land a high income in Tokyo, rent, home prices, and the cost of living are extremely high, so a huge chunk gets eaten away, making life tough for people of working age. Aichi's rent, home prices, and cost of living are all much cheaper than Tokyo or Osaka, and on top of that, Aichi's per-capita income is a solid second in the country after Tokyo — you can live about as well as anywhere in Japan. The one downside is fewer events, entertainment, and famous shops, but you can just make a trip out to Osaka or Tokyo once a week or once a month to cover that.
Kyushu University → 'Sounds warm, it's down south'
Nagoya University → '…hmm.'
You're talking about Tohoku University — the school that invented the gigahertz-band magnetron and directional antennas — on that level? Even today, it's normal for science majors to aim for Tohoku University rather than Tokyo or Kyoto.
By global standards, Tohoku University is the third or fourth best school in Japan after Tokyo and Kyoto — it's not some 'prep school for getting hired at a big company' like Waseda or Keio.
■ THE World University Rankings 2027
#27. University of Tokyo (Japan)
#62. Kyoto University (Japan)
#106. Tohoku University (Japan)
#147. Osaka University (Japan)
#185. Institute of Science Tokyo (Japan)
#242. Nagoya University (Japan)
#801-1000. Waseda University, Keio University (Japan)
Source: Times Higher Education (THE), a UK-based education data organization
Aichi has the highest rate in the country of students staying in-prefecture for university, at 73%.
Even if that's true overall, it's the 'tried for Nagoya University, didn't quite make it, but still pretty bright' tier that ends up leaving. That's because their safety-school picks are Nanzan for humanities and Meijo for sciences.
Meijo's faculty lineup is actually impressive, though.
As a local, for Nagoya University safety schools, it's overwhelmingly Doshisha or Ritsumeikan. The MARCH schools (a group of mid-tier Tokyo-area private universities) don't get picked much — their value is probably lower for Aichi residents than Kanto people assume. That said, Meijo's science/engineering or Nanzan won't leave you struggling for a local job. Beyond those, I honestly don't know much about the other local private universities.
Aichi is in the most fortunate 'bottom-right zone.'
Quite a few Kyushu University grads end up in Tokyo, so it actually ranks above Tohoku and Nagoya University in rankings of listed-company executives and presidents.
Re: #59
Looking at this, if you're a humanities student, you might as well go to a decent private school instead of repeating a year to retake exams.
For science majors, if you fail Nagoya University, the second-round (late admission) option at Nagoya Institute of Technology is brutally hard, and the next option would be Gifu University — but given its location, most people would have to move out of their parents' house anyway. If you're going to have to leave home regardless, factoring in job prospects, you're better off just going to the prestigious private university in Kanto or Kansai you'd picked as a safety school.
Because the sheer number of high-achieving local students is completely different. If someone from Tokyo tried to get into Nagoya University, the competition would be brutal.
It just means people from Nagoya are disliked.
But in Nagoya you can get hired at Toyota or JR Central — what's even in Sendai? lol
You dabble a bit in regional revitalization projects to pad your resume for job interviews, then go work in Tokyo.
The humanities programs at regional 'ekiben' national universities (nickname for lower-tier national universities scattered around the country, like boxed lunches sold at every train station) like Kanazawa or Shinshu are such a bargain — if you can get into a MARCH school, you could pass these in your sleep lol
【Kanazawa University – Humanities Combined Entrance Exam】
Common Test subjects: Foreign language required + choose 2 from Japanese/Math/Social Studies/Science
Secondary exam subjects: Comprehensive problem-solving, English
Difficulty score (hensachi): 55
【Shinshu University – Faculty of Humanities (first round)】
Common Test subjects: Foreign language + Japanese + choose 1 from Social Studies or Science
Secondary exam subjects: Comprehensive problem-solving, school records
Difficulty score (hensachi): —
【Latest 2027 edition!】20 national/public universities you can apply to without math! Exam formats and strategies explained
https://bestjuku.com/shingaku/s-article/34811/
Guess there are 'ekiben' schools where humanities majors can get in using science subjects, huh.
Light green: Hokkaido University
Dark green: Tohoku University
Yellow: University of Tokyo
Orange: Nagoya University
Pink: Kyoto University
Blue: Osaka University
Red: Kyushu University
Looks like Date Masamune is about to conquer the whole country. (a joke referencing the feudal lord of the Tohoku/Sendai region and the strong Tohoku presence on the map)
2026 enrollment figures: Nagoya U. / Tohoku U. / Hokkaido U.
Tokyo: 46 / 320 / 336
Kanagawa: 36 / 134 / 145
Shizuoka: 147 / 70 / 65
Aichi: 1,132 / 57 / 114
Gifu: 166 / 12 / 26
Shiga: 15 / 8 / 11
Kyoto: 20 / 21 / 62
Osaka: 24 / 34 / 104
Hyogo: 31 / 27 / 107
Okayama: 22 / 13 / 19
Hiroshima: 14 / 20 / 46
Fukuoka: 10 / 16 / 25
Kansai people apparently like Hokkaido more than Nagoya lol. I know someone who went there.
Guess the number of people going from Shizuoka to Tohoku University has dropped. It used to be only slightly fewer than those going to Nagoya University.
・By 2040, even Tokyo's national/public universities may fail to fill their quotas. Top universities are accelerating their survival strategies (DIAMOND Education Lab)
・Over 60% of University of Tokyo admits now come from the Kanto region; the decline from rural areas stands out (Asahi Shimbun, April 13, 2026)
・Part-time jobs, scholarships, falling grades — the struggles of shrinking numbers of rural students at Tokyo universities (Asahi Shimbun)
・Top universities' 'Tokyo-localization' advances — Waseda and Keio now in the 70% range (NewsSwitch)
・Crisis mode for Tokyo-area universities! The advance of 'Kanto-localization' — why schools are working hard to secure rural applicants (zakⅡ)
At Kyoto University, the number from Kanto is rising while the number of local Kansai students is falling.
Since the 2010s, Kanto has been the region driving the biggest increase in Kyoto University enrollees.
According to Kyoto University's own statistics on enrollees' high school locations,
the number from Kanto went from 243 in 2010, to 394 in 2020, to 430 in 2023.
In exchange, the decline in enrollees from the Kinki region stands out.
In particular, enrollment from Kinki prefectures other than Osaka and Kyoto has plummeted.
High schools in Kyoto and Osaka prefectures themselves saw only a slight decline.
Nagoya City University
Meijo University
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Former imperial universities vary widely by region in their proportion of in-prefecture students, and Nagoya University stands out among national universities for its especially high rate of local students. Even in the thread’s table (post 32), Tohoku and Hokkaido University pull in more students from Tokyo and Kanagawa than from Aichi, whereas for Nagoya University, Kanto and Kinki combined account for barely over 10% of enrollees. This stems from a mix of factors: shinkansen and access from the greater Tokyo area, Aichi’s high rate of students staying local for university (the nation’s highest, at 73%), and where safety-school private universities are located (Kanto students tend to pick Kanto private schools, while Aichi students lean toward Kansai private schools). Opinions in the thread split over whether to see this “local concentration” as a strength or a weakness. Some pointed to Aichi’s advantages in cost of living and income as a point in its favor, while others raised concerns about the structural problem of students who just miss getting into Nagoya University draining away to private universities in Kanto or Kansai. It’s also worth noting that similar “Kanto-localization” has reportedly been creeping into Tokyo University, Waseda, Keio, and even Kyoto University in recent years — suggesting Nagoya University’s local concentration may be part of a broader trend spreading across former imperial universities as a whole.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “Nagoya University enrollment ranking by hometown — over half from Aichi, over 70% from the four Tokai prefectures combined, a striking case of local concentration among former imperial universities.”
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