University of Tokyo leads national university compensation ranking

A recent survey of 80 national university corporations in Japan reveals that the University of Tokyo has the highest annual compensation for its head, totaling 24,887,000 yen. This amount is approximately 2.3 times the average annual salary of the university's faculty, which stands at 10,829,000 yen.

The Tokai National Higher Education and Research System, which operates Nagoya University and Gifu University, ranked second with 23,675,000 yen. Kyoto University followed in third place with 23,368,000 yen. Other high-ranking institutions include Tsukuba University and the newly established Institute of Science Tokyo.

The average annual compensation across the 80 surveyed corporations was 19,017,000 yen, with 18 institutions reporting total compensation exceeding 20,000,000 yen. The data was compiled by Popcorn Co., Ltd. based on official remuneration records from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for the 2025 fiscal year.