UTokyo Global Unit Courses

Eligibility
Applicants must be currently enrolled in a university as a full-time student outside of Japan (undergraduate and graduate).
UTokyo students are also welcome to apply for the program.

Language Requirement
All UTokyo GUC courses are taught entirely in English (except for Japanese language courses) and no knowledge of Japanese language is required. Although no certificate of English language skills is required, students must possess sufficient language proficiency to complete university-level courses. The expected minimum proficiency level is that of TOEFL iBT 90 or IELTS 6.5.

UTokyo students are also welcome to apply for the program.

Go Global website (Japanese)
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/adm/go-global/ja/program-oncampus-guc.html
Go Global website (English)
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/adm/go-global/en/program-oncampus-guc.html

Application Period: February 1 to March 13, 2023 at 16:00 (JST) 【December 19 updated】
Application Fee Payment Deadline: March 13, 2023 at 16:00 (JST)【January 10 updated】
Receive Result of Screening: Mid-April
Program Fee Payment Deadline: Mid-April to Late April
Program Period: Mid-June to July

Term 1: Monday, June 19 to Friday, June 30
Term 2: Monday, July 3 to Friday, July 14
Term 3: Monday, July 24 to Friday, July 28

Main Courses: Term 1 (In-person)

Course Code	Instructor	Title	Course schedule	Number of sessions	Global Units
GUC23S204C	Prof. Yukie Nagai	AI for Understanding Human Intelligence	June 19-23 13:00-14:30 June 26-30  13:00-14:30,  15:00-16:30, 17:00-18:30	20	1
GUC23S301C	Asst. Prof. Sho Tsuji	Early Language Acquisition: How Human Infants Learn Language Within Their Social Environment	June 19-30 10:30-12:00	10	1

• Download GUC Timetable

Applicants may choose from the following courses. 
*See the Timetable for specific time periods when the courses are taught.

Students may select any number of courses from any Term as long as there are no time conflicts. Please note that those attending the program in-person may select online courses also.

Main Courses: Term 1 (In-person)

AI for Understanding Human Intelligence Where does human intelligence come from? Can we design artificial intelligence (AI) that has human-like intelligence? Although state-of-the-art technologies sometimes outperform human intelligence, their application fields are still limited. An open challenge is to enable AI to acquire various cognitive abilities as humans do.    My course will teach a unique computational approach called cognitive developmental robotics. We aim to design AI and robots that can learn and develop like children. This approach enables us to uncover the principle of cognitive development as well as to design artificial systems that acquire cognitive abilities. Students who are interested in both artificial and human intelligence are welcome to this course.

Prof. Yukie Nagai

Early Language Acquisition: How Human Infants Learn Language Within Their Social Environment Children learn language all around the world, no matter what linguistic or cultural background they are born into. In this course, we will tackle questions such as: Do babies really learn in the womb? Why is it so hard for speakers from some languages to distinguish sounds like “l” and “r”? How should we talk to bilingual children? We will also learn about early language impairments, the central role of the social environment for learning, and what lessons artificial intelligence can draw from baby studies. Understanding the mechanisms behind their learning is of high societal relevance, since early language skills are the single best predictor for later academic success. In my lab, drawing on observational, experimental, and interventional methods, we focus on the role of the linguistic environment and social context for advancing learning.

Asst. Prof. Sho Tsuji

 
Main Courses: Term 1 (Online, synchronous)

Sustainability, Social Justice, and Resource Management This course addresses the following two questions: i) What is sustainability? ii) For whom is sustainability important? I would like to invite any student who is interested in understanding why organisations, like the United Nations, are promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and why in promoting SDGs, understanding environmental justice, the issues of equity and equality among the current generation as well as future generation, is important.

Assoc. Prof. Hiroe Ishihara

Main Courses: Term 2 (In-person)

Capitalism and the Senses I’m a historian of the senses, business, and technology. This course will explore how historical change altered people’s sensory experience from the late nineteenth century onward. The senses play an important role in our everyday lives. We understand and interact with surrounding environments and other people through our senses, including touch, hearing, smell, taste, and vision. By looking at the formation and transformation of sensory experience, the course encourages students to understand the senses as a lens to analyze political, economic, and cultural change.	Assoc. Prof. Ai Hisano
Contemporary Japanese Politics This course focuses on how representative democracy operates in post-WWII Japan. We will analyze the major social and ideological cleavages that shape voter preferences, and how political institutions channel these into party competition and government decision-making. The course will draw on broader theories and evidence from Comparative Politics to examine how the structure and performance of Japanese politics contrast with those of other developed democracies. The material is based on the instructor’s experience teaching Japanese politics in both the United States and Japan. Each course session will mix lectures and group discussions.	Prof. Kenneth Mori McElwain
Dilemmas of Development in Asia I have been teaching subjects related to the environment and development in the context of Asia for the past 20 years. And it remains an exciting field, especially examining how our knowledge can be mobilized to address real world problems, and how Japan and Asia have unique experiences to share with the world. I plan to conduct an interactive class that challenges your basic assumptions about what “development” is or should be. Cases will be drawn from my field experience in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia along with Japan. Looking forward to meeting you all!	Prof. Jin Sato
Group Theory and Its Applications: Introduction to Beautiful Modern Mathematics I am a Professor of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU). I am interested in Algebraic Geometry which is related with Superstring theory. I am also interested in mathematical education and have organized Exhibitions "Mathematics Museum" several times. Recently I wrote a book, "Introduction to Beautiful Mathematics" in Japanese and I would like to show you a part of the book on some traditional Japanese culture and mathematics in this lecture. Moreover, I will talk on recent research on Algebraic Geometry, for example, McKay correspondence which was studied well in UK , Europe and Japan.	Prof. Yukari Ito
Sustainable Urban Management I'm Kiyo, who coordinates this course. My specialty is environmental engineering, especially about people-side acceptance of environmental measures, fostering pro-environmental behaviors to build a low-carbon society, and effects of climate-change adaptation on people's quality of life. It is our responsibility to build a sustainable society. In this course, you will learn approaches for the formation of a sustainable society from the fields of urban engineering, architecture, and civil engineering.	Assoc. Prof. Kiyo Kurisu
AI and Social Justice My teaching and research have been motivated by wanting to understand how certain populations in society are excluded and what changes enables their inclusion. AI is accused of exacerbating social disparity, whether it is based to their race, class, gender, linguistic ability, etc. I am excited to be thinking about artificial intelligence with the GUC participants, particularly about how AI can be examined through the lens of social justice. By welcoming students from various parts of the world, I believe we will be able to see just how varied our understandings are when it comes to our concerns about AI and how it can be used for social justice.	Prof. Yuko Itatsu

Law in Transnational East Asia This course is for anyone interested in how such an internally diverse region as East Asia became a somewhat coherent region in the past, and how it might relate to the rest of the world in the future. Tokyo is one of the best places in the world to study East Asian cultures and societies (I would argue the best, but of course I’m biased). My area of expertise is in the Legal History and Comparative Law involving East Asian societies. After completing my LL.B. in Tokyo and D.Phil. in Oxford, I have held research and teaching posts in Columbia Law School, Hong Kong University, the National University of Singapore, and Yale University.  The GUC has been providing a wonderful opportunity for students with diverse backgrounds to come together, and to learn from each other. I am excited to participate again this year, especially as it is the first time it will be conducted In-Real-Life. I look forward to learning from the vibrant exchanges myself, and to begin a long-term exchange of ideas and experiences with each one of my students.

Prof. Kentaro Matsubara

Science of Light: From Fundamentals to Advanced Technologies Light abounds all around us. Without light, we would not be able to enjoy beautiful scenery. To take memorable photographs, we use a camera, which is an optical instrument. Above all, the information on the web page you are looking at now is delivered to you through optical fibers. As such, optical technologies are indispensable in many aspects of our lives. How much do you know about light? In this course, we will learn about the fundamental properties of light by doing simple experiments and will study the concept and progress of nanophotonics, which is one of the advanced optical technologies.

Prof. Satoshi Iwamoto

Main Courses: On-demand

Writings About Japan: Analyzing Cultural Representations, From Orientalism to Artificial Intelligence I am a cultural studies scholar whose focus is on United States-Japan relations. As Vice President in charge of global education, I am also passionate about promoting international student exchanges. Therefore, the chance to teach this on-demand/online course and meet with students from all over the world is something truly exciting for me. The course focuses on how Japan has been portrayed in various media (written texts, films, artificial intelligence) throughout the last 150 years to understand the dynamics of cultural representations.  I am very much looking forward to having active discussions with all of you about this topic.

Prof. Yujin Yaguchi

Japanese Language Courses (Online, synchronous)
Term 1

• Survival Japanese (Beginner Level)
• Communication Strategy in Japanese Conversation (Advanced Level)

Term 2

• Survival Japanese (Beginner Level)
• Japanese Kanji for Kanji Background Students (Intermediate to Advanced Level）

Application Fee
JPY 4,500
The transaction fee of JPY 500 will be charged along with the application fee.
The application fee must be paid during application period by credit card ONLY and is strictly non-refundable. There is no application fee for UTokyo students.

The link for the payment system will be updated in January.
 
Program Fees
In-person format: JPY 150,000 per Global Unit/JPY 75,000 per 0.5 Global Unit
Online/On-demand format: JPY 50,000 per Global Unit / JPY 25,000 per 0.5 Global Unit 
 
Discounts for registering for two or more units
Students who register for 2 or more units are entitled to the following discount:
*Only applies to in-person courses
 

Global Units	Program Fee (JPY)	Discount (JPY)
2	250,000	50,000
2.5	310,000	65,000
3	370,000	80,000
3.5	430,000	95,000
4	490,000	110,000
4.5	550,000	125,000
5	610,000	140,000

 
The program fee must be paid in full after admission is confirmed in April by credit card ONLY.
The transaction fee of JPY 500 will be charged along with the total program fee.
Payment Deadline: Mid-April（TBA）

Students will be rigorously assessed and be given "Global Units" based on their performance and the number of class hours. Upon completion of course, a Global Unit Certificate, which may be used to calculate credits for transfer to your home institution, will be issued by the University of Tokyo.

Applications are accepted via T-cens SP Online Application System only.

T-cens SP ​【Application Closed】

Details about T-cens SP:
“Instruction for your GUC application via T-cens SP_2023” 【February 1 updated】
”Instruction for a payment of Application Fee by credit card“ 【February 1 updated】

The following documents must be submitted.
*Be sure that the file size of each document does not exceed 2MB.
1) A copy of your identification (passport or student ID card)
2) An OFFICIAL transcript(s) from all the institutions of higher education one has attended.
＊ If you are a first year undergraduate student and the transcript is unavailable at the time of application, please submit any document which attests your enrollment at your home institution. 
＊ If you are a first year student at the graduate level and the transcript is unavailable at the time of application, please submit the latest transcript of your undergraduate degree.
3) Consent Form 
     *Please download the form, read it carefully and sign, and submit via T-cens SP. 【January 24 updated】
*2~3) Please scan and save the data as a PDF file.
4) A color ID photo, plain background (taken within the last 3 months)
5) Statement of purpose for each course you want to apply for
     *Please download the document, fill out for each course and submit via T-cens SP. 【January 10 updated】

• Consent Form

• Statement of Purpose

• UTokyo Global Unit Courses 2023 Application Guidelines

• UTokyo Global Unit Courses 2023 Program Terms and Conditions

Accommodation
No campus housing is available and students are responsible for arranging their own accommodation. However, UTokyo GUC staff will assist students with finding accommodation information in the Tokyo area, which has a range of affordable options for short-term stays. Payment for accommodations is the sole responsibility of the students.

UTokyo GUC courses will be offered on Hongo Campus and also on Komaba Campus (mainly Hongo Campus). The two campuses are located in the central Tokyo area.
 
Access Map to the Campuses
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/access.html#map
 
The nearest stations to the Hongo Campus are:

• Todaimae Station (Nanboku line)
• Hongo-sanchome Station (Marunouchi line)
• Yushima Station (Chiyoda line)

It takes about 10 min by Tokyo Metro from Tokyo Station to Hongo-sanchome Station.
It is about 20 min walking distance from Ueno Station to Hongo Campus.
 
The nearest station to the Komaba Campus is:

• Komaba-Todaimae Station (Keio-Inokashira line)

It takes about 3 min by train from Shibuya Station to Komaba-Todaimae Station.
 
Prices vary by hotel. The price for a standard hotel room (with private bathroom) is approximately USD100. During the summer vacation, the prices tend to be high. There is usually an early-booking discount.
 
More information such as hotels located near the UTokyo campus will be provided to successful applicants.

 
Visa
UTokyo will send supporting documents to students attending in-person course(s) and requiring a Short-Term Stay Visa after confirming payment of the program fees. Students should confirm whether their nationality is a "Visa National" or a "Non-Visa National" by referring to the following websites. Students requiring a Visa should apply at the Japanese Embassy or Consulate General in their country of residence on their own. Please note that this process may take several weeks.
 
Visa
https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/index.html
Exemption of Visa (Short-Term Stay)
https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/short/novisa.html

Ms. Lingyu Gu / Nanjing Forestry University Since UTokyo is a prestigious university in the world, the quality of the courses was very impressive. The topics covered in the courses were related to what really concern the world today, and instead of simply imparting knowledge, the courses were more of a place for discussion and thinking, which showed how complex the current world is.
Ms. Ruixin Huang / University of Malaya UTokyo GUC provides us with great opportunities to meet excellent people. I truly enjoyed this program. I appreciated how the instructor provided the schedule for each day beforehand, making the whole learning process clearer. I also quite enjoyed the way we could talk to different people in different groups. I got to speak with almost everyone participating in this program.
Ms.Indira  Sukmariana / University of Indonesia There are students from all around the world, and we exchanged experiences and knowledge with each other. I know now deeper about the situation in certain countries thanks to my classmates who are very active and critical. They were all very interesting and each of them had an impact on me in the long run.
Mr. Marco Lepe / University of California, Berkeley The teachers were excellent. The course content was very insightful, creative, and relevant. And my fellow classmates were thoughtful and kind, which made taking the classes very enjoyable.
Ms. Anna Kamenova Valchanova / University College London I thought that the quality of teaching was excellent, and the professors were very kind and approachable. The online format was used to its full potential, and the course material was intellectually stimulating and thought-provoking, with connections to other aspects of both academic and everyday life. It was also wonderful to be able to interact with so many people from around the world, with everyone bringing different opinions and fascinating stories to the discussions.

UTokyo Global Unit Courses
International Exchange Group, Education and Student Support Department,
The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8652 JAPAN

Please send all inquiries regarding the courses to the following email address:

utokyo-guc.adm(at)gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp *Please change (at) to @

Certificates and Related Matters for former GUC students