Saitama University

About Saitama University

Saitama University (埼玉大学 - Saitama Daigaku / Saidai), established in 1949 under Japan’s postwar national university reform by amalgamating three historical institutions—Urawa High School (浦和高等学校, established 1921), Saitama Normal School (埼玉師範学校, established 1873), and Saitama Youth Normal School (埼玉青年師範学校, established 1922)—is a prominent national research university located in Sakura-ku, Saitama City, within the Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. Operating on an integrated single campus—the 30-hectare Okubo Campus (大久保キャンパス)—the university unites five undergraduate faculties (Liberal Arts, Education, Economics, Science, and Engineering) and three multidisciplinary graduate schools (Humanities and Social Sciences, Education, and Science and Engineering). With an enrollment exceeding 8,500 students, including approximately 700 international researchers from over 50 countries, Saitama University provides an intimate yet globally connected academic environment situated just 30 minutes by train from downtown Tokyo. The university boasts a storied scientific heritage, most notably celebrated through alumnus Takaaki Kajita (Faculty of Science class of 1981), who was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of neutrino oscillations. Saitama University is also a trailblazer in English-taught international education in Japan: its International Graduate Program on Civil and Environmental Engineering (IGP), founded in 1992, has cultivated hundreds of global engineering leaders with dedicated Japanese Government (MEXT) scholarship allocations. Through its close strategic partnership with the nearby world-renowned RIKEN Institute in Wako, Saitama University offers a joint international doctoral program enabling students to conduct thesis research in top-tier national laboratories. Combining standard national university tuition (¥535,800/yr), universal tuition exemption mechanisms, on-campus International House housing, and comprehensive academic disciplines on one unified campus, Saitama University stands as a gateway of discovery and innovation.