coeducational state institution of higher education in Kyōto, Japan. It was founded in 1897 under the provisions of an 1872 Japanese law that established a system of imperial universities admitting small numbers of carefully selected students to be trained as scholars and imperial officials. Kyōto Imperial University (Kyōto Teikoku Daigaku), popularly called Kyōdai, soon became one of the most important imperial universities, surpassed in prestige only by Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo).

After World War II the American forces of occupation encouraged the Japanese to establish a system of mass higher education. Although Kyōto was integrated into this system and the appellation “imperial” was dropped from the university's name, it maintained its prestige. Because admission to Kyōto or Tokyo is said to be essential for students who desire good jobs in Japanese industry or civil service, admission to these universities is highly competitive. The university has faculties of engineering, science, agriculture, and medicine, among others, and a college of liberal arts and sciences. It also has a large number of specialized research institutes dealing with various branches of the pure and applied sciences and technology.