According to the Nikkei, the University of Tokyo announced on September 28 that it had selected Professor Yuko Fujigaki as its 32nd president, succeeding outgoing president Teruo Fujii. Her six-year term begins in April 2027, making her the university’s first-ever female president. A 5ch thread drew attention to the fact that another candidate reportedly won the internal preference poll by nearly a 2-to-1 margin, only for that result to be overturned by the selection committee. Discussion centered on the fact that the preference poll is, by design, merely a “survey of intent” with no binding power, as well as comparisons to the academic backgrounds of past presidents.
University of Tokyo Selects Yuko Fujigaki as President, First Woman to Hold the Post, Overturning In-House Vote – Nikkei
September 28, 2026, 10:17 PM
On the 28th, the University of Tokyo held a presidential selection committee meeting following the end of President Teruo Fujii’s term, and selected Professor Yuko Fujigaki as its 32nd president. Her term runs six years starting in April 2027. She is the first woman to serve as president at the University of Tokyo.
Source: nikkei.com / Original article here
If anything, this IS what democracy actually looks like.
National university corporations where women are prominent get more funding from MEXT (the education ministry), or so I hear. Don't know the details though.
What position did she actually hold again? Is "sōchō" different from "gakuchō" (both roughly translate to "university president")?
She's not even a University of Tokyo alumna (OG) to begin with. It'd be shocking if Todai ever picked an outside president.
If Todai, Kyoto U, Keio, or Waseda ever appointed an outsider as president, that would be huge news. At this tier of school, no matter how brilliant they are, a non-alumnus — let alone a foreign national — becoming president won't happen even in 100 years.
Over 80% of eligible voters actually took part in the poll.
Here's the member list:
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/about/public-info/b02_06.html
Given that she placed 2nd in the poll, plus the fact that Todai hasn't been designated a "University for International Research Excellence," and needs to show it's serious about governance reform — including affirmative action — the committee probably made a holistic judgment call.
But this has never happened before, has it?
Fujigaki — College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Basic Science
Fujii — Faculty of Engineering, Dept. of Naval Architecture
Gonokami — Faculty of Science, Dept. of Physics
Hamada — Faculty of Law
Komiyama — Faculty of Engineering, Dept. of Chemical Engineering
Sasaki — Faculty of Law
Hasumi — Faculty of Letters, Dept. of French Literature
Yoshikawa — Faculty of Engineering, Dept. of Precision Engineering
Arima — Faculty of Science, Dept. of Physics
Mori — Faculty of Medicine
Hirano — Faculty of Law
Mukaibo — Faculty of Engineering, Dept. of Applied Chemistry
Hayashi — Faculty of Letters, Dept. of Western History
Kato — Faculty of Law
Fujigaki — College of Arts and Sciences, Basic Science / Sociology of Science
Fujii — Faculty of Engineering, Naval Architecture / Microfluidic Devices
Gonokami — Faculty of Science, Physics / Quantum Electronics
Hamada — Faculty of Law / Media Law, Information Law
Komiyama — Faculty of Engineering, Chemical Engineering / Chemical Systems Engineering
Sasaki — Faculty of Law / History of Western Political Thought
Hasumi — Faculty of Letters, French Literature / French Literature & Contemporary French Thought
Yoshikawa — Faculty of Engineering, Precision Engineering / Robotics
Arima — Faculty of Science, Physics / Nuclear Physics
Mori — Faculty of Medicine / Pathology
Hirano — Faculty of Law / Criminal Procedure Law
Mukaibo — Faculty of Engineering, Applied Chemistry / Electrochemistry
Hayashi — Faculty of Letters, Western History / Modern German History
Kato — Faculty of Law / Civil Law (Tort Theory)
What kind of logic is that? Just plain ignorance?
The College of Arts and Sciences is actually brutal to get through — at Todai you need strong grades there just to advance into your desired faculty (the famous "shingaku furiwake" track-placement system).
(hands you a) honey trap.
Since the Todai student uprising [the late-1960s Zenkyoto protests], Todai presidents have actually tended NOT to be big-name authorities in classic, traditional fields. Re: #184
They're probably not choosing based on academic specialty per se, but my impression is that Todai tends to pick somewhat unconventional, sharp-edged people as its leaders.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The University of Tokyo’s presidential selection works in two stages: first, faculty and staff cast a preference poll, then a selection committee that includes outside members makes the final call. As explained in comment 109, the preference poll is only a “survey of intent” with no legal binding force, so the size of the vote gap alone doesn’t settle whether the outcome was valid. The thread held two views side by side: skepticism toward selecting a candidate who placed second in the preference poll, and a reading that ties the decision to the university’s push for governance reform, including greater representation of women. On the “first woman” point, some commenters thought of Chizuko Ueno, but others noted she held a different post — “sōchō” rather than “gakuchō” — and wasn’t even a University of Tokyo graduate to begin with. It was also noted that past presidents mostly came from the Faculty of Law, Faculty of Engineering, or Faculty of Science, making Fujigaki’s background in the College of Arts and Sciences comparatively unusual.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “University of Tokyo Selects Yuko Fujigaki as President, First Woman, Overturning In-House Vote.”
