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.
For UTokyo Students

Go Global website (JPN)
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/adm/
Go Global website (English)
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/adm/
Program Schedule

Receive Result of Screening: Early May
Payment Deadline: Early May to Mid-May (TBA)
Program Period: Mid-June to August
Course Code | Instructor | Title | Course schedule | Number of sessions | Units |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GUC22S101L | Prof. Kaori Hayashi | Media in Japan and the World | July 6 13:00-14:30 July 7-8 13:00-14:30 /15:00-16:30 |
5 sessions | 0.5 unit |
GUC22S102L | Prof. Kentaro Matsubara | Law in Transnational East Asia | July 4-8 17:00-18:30/19:00-20:30 |
10 sessions | 1 unit |
GUC22S103D | Prof. Yujin Yaguchi *on-demand |
Writings About Japan--Analyzing Cultural Representations, From Orientalism to Artificial Intelligence | Course materials available: July 4 - August 5 Synchronous live sessions 1&2 (attendance required). *see syllabus for further information. |
10 sessions | 1 unit |
GUC22S201L | Prof. Yukari Ito | Group Theory and Its Applications--Introduction to Beautiful Modern Mathematics | June 13-17/20-24 17:00-18:30 |
10 sessions | 1 unit |
GUC22S202L | Prof. Satoshi Iwamoto | Nanoscience | June 20-24/June 27-July 1 17:00-18:30 |
10 sessions | 1 unit |
GUC22S203L | Prof. Kiyo Kurisu | Sustainable Urban Management | June 20-24/June 27-July 1 17:00-18:30 |
10 sessions | 1 unit |
GUC22S301L | Asst. Prof. Sho Tsuji | Early Language Acquisition--How Human Infants Learn Language Within Their Social Environment | July 4-8 17:00-18:30 |
5 sessions | 0.5 unit |
GUC22S302L | Prof. Yuko Itatsu | AI and Social Justice | July 20-22/25-29/Aug 1-2 17:00-18:30 |
10 sessions | 1 unit |
GUC22S406L | Japanese Language Courses | Survival Japanese for Beginners | July 11-15 08:30-10:00 |
5 sessions | 0.5 unit |
GUC22S407L | Japanese Language Courses | Tips on Reading Japanese Kanji for Kanji Background Students | July 11, 13, 15, 20, 22 10:30-12:00 |
5 sessions | 0.5 unit |
GUC22S408L | Japanese Language Courses | Interview Project in Japanese “Let's get to know UTokyo students!” | July 4-8 10:30-12:00 |
5 sessions | 0.5 unit |
GUC22S409L | Japanese Language Courses | Rediscovering the pleasure and challenges of studying the language and society of Japan | July 25-29 10:30-12:00 |
5 sessions | 0.5 unit |
Courses/ Delivery method
*See the Timetable for specific time periods when the courses are taught .
Media in Japan and the World
(online, synchronous)
Hi. My name is Kaori Hayashi, written 林香里 in Chinese characters. After working as a journalist at Reuters in the early 1990s, I began investigating the Japanese media and journalism in a global context. As one of the few female professors on campus (less than 10% of the entire faculty), I belong to the absolute minority group in the UTokyo community. I am a strong advocate for gender justice and am constantly challenging gender biases and stereotypes. In the course I teach, I will focus on both the changing and unchanging aspects of journalism in this volatile digitized age and hope to think together with you about their implications for social justice and democracy from a comparative perspective. I am looking forward to having productive discussions with all of you!
Law in Transnational East Asia
(online, synchronous)
Tokyo is one of the best places in the world to study East Asian cultures and societies. 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 provides 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, to learn from the vibrant exchanges myself, and to begin a long-term exchange of ideas and experiences.
Writings About Japan--Analyzing Cultural Representations, From Orientalism to Artificial Intelligence
(on-demand, nonsynchronous)
I am a cultural studies scholar whose focus is on United States-Japan relations. As the Director of International Education Support Office, I am also passionate about promoting international student exchanges, even amidst the pandemic, and that is why I am teaching this on-demand/online course. It 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 taught this course last year and had a wonderful time talking to students from all over the world. I look forward to doing the same with you!
Group Theory and Its Applications--Introduction to Beautiful Modern Mathematics
(online, synchronous)
I am a Professor of Kavli Institute for Mathematics and the Physics of the Universe (IPMU) I am interested in Algebraic Geometry which are 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.
Nanoscience
(online, synchronous)
How are you reading my message? With a laptop? a tablet or a smartphone? None of them would have been possible in the present form as you use them today without the development of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are also revolutionizing some medical care. Drug delivery is one of the examples. As such, nanoscience and nanotechnology are enabling our daily life and will make future life better. In this course, we will guide you to the “nanoworld” through a series of lectures on nanoscience and nanotechnology in diverse fields including physics and electronics, biomedicine, and bioengineering. We will also learn the fundamentals of rapidly-growing quantum computing technology from a researcher in the industry.
Why not go on an adventure to the “nanoworld” this summer?
Sustainable Urban Management
(online, synchronous)
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.
Early Language Acquisition--How Human Infants Learn Language Within Their Social Environment
(online, synchronous)
My research investigates the mechanisms behind young children’s amazing capacity to acquire language fast and efficiently in diverse environments.
Language acquisition is both potent and fragile: Normally developing babies learn language at a speed unrivaled by machines, but early adversity can dramatically affect early acquisition. Understanding the mechanisms behind their learning is of high societal relevance, since early language skills are the single best predictor for later academic success. Drawing on observational, experimental, and interventional methods, I focus on the role of the linguistic environment and social context for advancing learning.
AI and Social Justice
(online, synchronous)
My teaching and research at the University of Tokyo has been motivated on the inclusion of minorities in society, whether the marginalization is due to their race, class, gender, linguistic ability or otherwise. I am very excited to be thinking about artificial intelligence with the GUC participants, particularly about how this technology can be examined using 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.
Japanese Language Courses
*Japanese Language Courses are open only to the students who register for at least one of the above courses. The courses will be taught by faculty of Center for Japanese Language Education.
■Survival Japanese for Beginners
■Tips on Reading Japanese Kanji for Kanji Background students
■Interview Project in Japanese “Let's get to know UTokyo students!”
■Rediscovering the pleasure and challenges of studying the language and society of Japan
*UTokyo reserves the right to cancel courses for reasons such as insufficient number of registrants. Appropriate refunds will be given in case of cancellation.
Program fee

The program fee must be paid in full after admission is confirmed in April by credit card ONLY.
Payment Deadline:Early May to mid-May (TBA)
Application

T-cens SP (u-tokyo.ac.jp)
Please download the Instruction for your GUC application via T-cens SP from the UTokyo GUC website and refer to the instruction carefully.
Download UTokyo GUC 2022 Application Guidelines
Download UTokyo GUC 2022 Program Terms and Coditions
The following documents must be submitted.
*Be sure that the file size of each document does not exceed 2MB.
1) A color ID photo, plain background (taken within the last 3 months)
2) A copy of your identification (passport or student ID card)
3) An OFFICIAL transcript(s) from all the institutions of higher education one has attended
4) Grading scale (if not mentioned in the above official transcript)
5) Consent Form
*Download the form from UTokyo GUC website, read it carefully and sign.
Consent Form
*3~5) Please scan and save the data as a PDF file.
6)Statement of purpose for each course you want to apply for
*Please download the document from UTokyo GUC website and fill out for each course
Statement of Purpose
Global Unit / Assessment

Feedback from 2021 Students
The atmosphere and online environment created in the class was one of the most satisfactory and exciting areas of the units. Both classes were full of students who were extremely lively and engaged with the content we were learning and discussing. It was a great opportunity to listen to the opinions and experiences of people from all around the world and expand my academic interests through this. Altough it was online, I feel as though I developed some strong academic connections with others participating in the sessions |
![]() Durham University |
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 for me in the long run. | ![]() Ms.Indira Sukmariana/
University of Indonesia |
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. | ![]() Mr. Marco Lepe/
University of California, Berkeley |
Contact

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 @