ITS Research Intelligence

Japan University Research Rankings

Name: Japan University Research Rankings – ITS Research Solution
Creator: ITS Research Solution
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Compare Japan universities using recent research output, citation impact, growth and a transparent research-performance score.

Research landscape

The current ITS Research Intelligence dataset contains 86 index-ready universities in Japan. Across those institutions, the average five-year research output is approximately 6,889 works and the average five-year citation count is approximately 34,173. The average publication-growth signal is 9.8%. These figures describe the institutions that pass the public quality gate; they are not intended to represent every tertiary institution in the country.

Country rankings are useful for benchmarking because they reduce some of the structural differences that make global comparisons difficult. They still should not be treated as a complete assessment of institutional quality: teaching, student outcomes, funding levels, research field mix and institutional mission are outside this research-performance score. The value of the page is in seeing who is producing research, how that activity is changing, and where citation visibility is concentrated.

Top research universities in Japan

Rank	University	Country	Score	5-year works	5-year citations	Growth
#1	Nagoya University	Japan	87.1	122,354	231,097	550.7%
#2	The University of Tokyo	Japan	82.1	92,637	641,439	-15.9%
#3	Kyoto University	Japan	79.5	59,841	369,719	-7.2%
#4	Tohoku University	Japan	77.6	46,558	284,136	-7.6%
#5	The University of Osaka	Japan	77.3	43,352	283,962	-27.2%
#6	Kyushu University	Japan	75.7	38,501	213,639	-13.1%
#7	University of Tsukuba	Japan	74.1	28,803	145,749	-3.0%
#8	Keio University	Japan	73.5	25,430	136,254	-6.5%
#9	Hiroshima University	Japan	72.8	22,616	135,246	-8.9%
#10	The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI	Japan	66.0	6,440	50,710	-9.5%
#11	Ehime University	Japan	65.3	7,320	34,440	-8.6%
#12	Gunma University	Japan	65.0	6,523	29,936	-11.7%
#13	Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine	Japan	64.6	5,672	31,151	-10.9%
#14	National Institute for Environmental Studies	Japan	64.3	4,861	37,894	-12.2%
#15	Nippon Medical School	Japan	63.6	5,153	33,499	-15.8%
#16	University of Electro-Communications	Japan	63.2	5,856	25,297	-1.4%
#17	Fukuoka University	Japan	62.7	4,774	21,599	-12.9%
#18	Shimane University	Japan	62.7	5,475	22,591	-12.5%
#19	Shizuoka University	Japan	62.6	5,361	20,083	-5.3%
#20	Kansai University	Japan	59.4	3,468	10,196	3.0%
#21	Doshisha University	Japan	59.3	4,185	11,738	-8.5%
#22	Nagaoka University of Technology	Japan	59.0	2,575	11,037	-5.7%
#23	Hosei University	Japan	58.9	3,932	19,473	-19.5%
#24	Toyohashi University of Technology	Japan	57.8	2,519	10,056	-28.5%
#25	Aoyama Gakuin University	Japan	57.0	2,297	8,855	-9.4%
#26	Utsunomiya University	Japan	56.7	2,232	6,084	-2.9%
#27	Nara Women's University	Japan	56.6	1,615	6,629	3.8%
#28	Health Sciences University of Hokkaido	Japan	55.3	1,522	5,979	5.0%
#29	Gifu Pharmaceutical University	Japan	54.3	930	4,314	-1.9%
#30	Toyota Technological Institute	Japan	53.7	1,024	6,587	-33.9%
#31	Kumamoto Health Science University	Japan	53.4	891	3,779	53.7%
#32	Tokyo Gakugei University	Japan	53.1	1,217	1,482	56.0%
#33	National Defense Academy of Japan	Japan	53.0	1,156	6,074	-25.9%
#34	Osaka Dental University	Japan	52.8	887	3,132	10.7%
#35	Toyama Prefectural University	Japan	52.7	1,333	4,560	-15.0%
#36	Setsunan University	Japan	52.3	1,122	3,367	-8.0%
#37	Tokushima Bunri University	Japan	52.3	797	2,523	9.6%
#38	Wakayama University	Japan	51.9	1,006	2,293	17.0%
#39	Kyushu Dental University	Japan	51.8	722	2,296	8.7%
#40	Fukuoka Institute of Technology	Japan	50.9	1,375	4,235	-30.9%
#41	Sojo University	Japan	50.3	730	2,470	-4.2%
#42	Japan Women's University	Japan	50.1	663	2,325	-4.9%
#43	University of Teacher Education Fukuoka	Japan	49.6	212	643	177.3%
#44	Prefectural University of Hiroshima	Japan	49.6	675	2,127	-2.6%
#45	Matsuyama University	Japan	49.4	605	2,015	7.9%
#46	Asahi University	Japan	49.4	666	1,892	-15.8%
#47	Naruto University of Education	Japan	49.2	428	376	157.8%
#48	Aichi University of Education	Japan	49.0	511	668	51.6%
#49	Chitose Institute of Science and Technology	Japan	48.5	669	1,074	40.5%
#50	Miyagi University of Education	Japan	48.5	290	1,361	59.8%
#51	Kyushu Sangyo University	Japan	48.1	539	1,855	13.6%
#52	Suzuka University of Medical Science	Japan	47.9	543	1,967	-17.0%
#53	Kanto Gakuin University	Japan	47.7	652	1,747	11.2%
#54	Fukuoka Dental College	Japan	47.5	437	1,621	-22.2%
#55	Meikai University	Japan	47.4	411	1,438	-26.4%
#56	Shonan Institute of Technology	Japan	47.4	540	1,024	33.7%
#57	Osaka Kyoiku University	Japan	47.4	443	970	0.0%
#58	Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences	Japan	47.0	401	1,375	8.8%
#59	Nippon Sport Science University	Japan	46.8	552	1,921	1.8%
#60	Prefectural University of Kumamoto	Japan	46.8	339	1,724	-5.6%
#61	Okayama Prefectural University	Japan	46.2	579	1,007	-44.4%
#62	Kinjo Gakuin University	Japan	46.2	377	1,131	12.9%
#63	Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare	Japan	46.2	614	1,571	-21.9%
#64	Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences	Japan	46.0	464	1,140	-10.8%
#65	Takasaki University of Health and Welfare	Japan	45.5	484	1,357	-21.1%
#66	Kokushikan University	Japan	45.4	478	996	-1.1%
#67	Nagasaki International University	Japan	45.2	363	1,698	-42.4%
#68	Aomori University	Japan	45.0	192	818	26.8%
#69	Ishinomaki Senshu University	Japan	45.0	269	463	49.4%
#70	Hyogo University of Teacher Education	Japan	44.9	392	307	55.9%
#71	Hachinohe National College of Technology	Japan	44.8	207	5,960	-50.0%
#72	National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya	Japan	44.3	287	608	5.7%
#73	Tohoku Fukushi University	Japan	43.7	234	1,432	-21.2%
#74	Showa Women's University	Japan	43.5	284	688	17.2%
#75	Aichi Prefectural University	Japan	43.3	352	559	-3.0%
#76	Aomori University of Health and Welfare	Japan	43.2	245	468	47.4%
#77	Meiji University of Integrative Medicine	Japan	43.1	150	442	36.0%
#78	Yamaguchi Prefectural University	Japan	42.7	129	180	119.4%
#79	Sugiyama Jogakuen University	Japan	42.7	226	385	20.0%
#80	Fukuoka Women's University	Japan	42.5	224	923	-25.8%
#81	Osaka Ohtani University	Japan	42.5	225	784	-19.0%
#82	Asahikawa University	Japan	40.9	200	325	20.6%
#83	Kibi International University	Japan	40.8	204	407	9.3%
#84	Kobe City College of Technology	Japan	40.1	261	514	-39.7%
#85	Himeji Dokkyo University	Japan	39.7	157	609	-35.1%
#86	Japan Women's College of Physical Education	Japan	38.3	219	358	-45.1%

Transparent methodology

What the ITS Research Performance Score measures

The current score is intentionally research-specific. Thirty percent reflects five-year publication output, thirty percent five-year citations, twenty percent h-index, ten percent i10-index and ten percent five-year publication growth. Volume-based indicators are log-normalized before weighting so the largest universities do not dominate simply because of scale. Growth is bounded before entering the score so a tiny starting value cannot create an unrealistic advantage.

The score does not currently claim to measure teaching quality, student satisfaction, reputation, employability or finances. It also does not label the underlying citation totals as field-normalized impact. Future field-normalized modules should be added only when the underlying work-level calculations are available and validated. This separation keeps the ranking interpretable and prevents unsupported claims.

Source data is drawn from OpenAlex and linked to ROR identifiers. Both are open scholarly infrastructures. ITS Research Solution adds value through normalization, quality gates, trend calculations, ranking methodology, benchmarking and readable institution-level analysis.