Hokkaido University

Our Philosophies

Hokkaido University is a leading comprehensive university that places importance on its graduate schools. The university started out in 1876 as the Sapporo Agricultural College, the first modern academic institute in Japan. During its long history, the college was promoted to an Imperial University and then flourished after the creation of the new university system. Over this period, we have declared and cultivated our basic philosophies of education and research, namely the “Frontier Spirit,” “Global Perspectives,” “All-round Education” and “Practical Learning.” In order to meet the demands of society and to move ahead as a part of the National University Corporation, Hokkaido University needs to formulate a long term goal for developing the basis of knowledge generation, dissemination and application in the new century, while still reconfirming our basic philosophies and recognizing our accountability to society.

University Symbol

The Hokkaido University logo is a stylized design of a trillium (liliaceae/lily family), which grows on campus. The design of this perennial was selected in a contest in 1950. On the university’s 120^th anniversary in 1996, the design was altered to its present form and was formally made the university’s symbol.

The petals and sepal which make up the six directions (East, West, South, North, Heaven, and Earth) symbolize the dissemination of information from Hokkaido University to Japan and to the world. The characters in the middle are old forms of the Chinese characters for “dai-gaku,” or “university.”

Our Campuses

Location of Hokkaido University in Tokyo

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