Hokkaido University vs Tohoku University

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Hokkaido and Tohoku are both national research universities and former imperial universities of similar size, each building a new kind of English taught undergraduate route. Hokkaido's Modern Japanese Studies Program is a 4.5 year bachelor's degree, half taught in Japanese and half in English, combining a six month intensive Japanese course with four years of degree study; it asks for IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL 79 and charges the standard national rate of JPY 535,800 a year. Tohoku launches Gateway College from 2027, a new interdisciplinary undergraduate programme taught primarily in English with separate April and October admission cycles, replacing its earlier Future Global Leadership Program; it asks for a slightly lower IELTS 6.0 or TOEFL 80, and charges the same JPY 535,800 a year. Student numbers are close, 17,770 at Hokkaido against 17,975 at Tohoku. Tohoku's two intake cycles from 2027 give more entry points than Hokkaido's structure describes. Check each university's own page for the current status of these programmes, since Tohoku's Gateway College has not yet opened as of this review.