University of Osaka

The University of Osaka
大阪大学
Motto地域に生き世界に伸びる
Motto in English
Live Locally, Grow Globally
TypePublic (National)
EstablishedKaitokudo founded 1724; Osaka Imperial University established 1931
Budget186.718 billion yen (2023)
PresidentShojiro Nishio
Academic staff
3,357
Administrative staff
3,672
Students23,226
Undergraduates15,075
Postgraduates8,151
3,374
Other students
537 (research students and auditors)
Location, ,
34°49′09″N 135°31′36″E / 34.81917°N 135.52667°E / 34.81917; 135.52667
CampusSuburban, 1.58 km²
Authorized Student Groups59 sports-related, 70 culture-related
Colors  Sky blue
MascotDr. Wani
Websiteosaka-u.ac.jp

The University of Osaka (大阪大学, Ōsaka daigaku), abbreviated as UOsaka or Handai (阪大), is a national research university in Osaka, Japan. The university traces its roots back to Edo-era institutions Tekijuku (1838) and Kaitokudo (1724), and was officially established in 1931 as the sixth of the Imperial Universities in Japan, with two faculties: science and medicine. Following the post-war educational reform, it merged with three pre-war higher schools, reorganizing as a comprehensive university with five faculties: science, medicine, letters, law and economics, and engineering. After the merger with Osaka University of Foreign Studies in 2007, UOsaka became the largest national university in Japan by undergraduate enrollment. The official name of the university in English has been changed from "Osaka University" to "The University of Osaka (UOsaka)" as of April 2025.

UOsaka is one of the most productive research institutions in Japan. Numerous prominent scholars and scientists have attended or worked at UOsaka, such as Nobel Laureate in Physics Hideki Yukawa, manga artist Osamu Tezuka, Lasker Award winner Hidesaburō Hanafusa, author Ryōtarō Shiba, and discoverer of regulatory T cells Shimon Sakaguchi.