# List of prime ministers of Japan by education

This is a list of prime ministers of Japan and the educational institutions they attended. As of October 2024, of the 65 prime ministers to date, 17 were educated at the University of Tokyo (called Tokyo Imperial University between 1897 and 1947), seven at Waseda University, six at the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, five at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, four at Keio University, two at Kyoto University and Meiji University, and one at 13 other institutions. 7 did not attend higher education.
Many prime ministers born and raised during the Edo period didn’t attend university, as there was no degree-awarding higher education at the time. Instead, education was predominantly provided by local temples and shrine priests through private systems such as the Shoheizaka Gakumonjo. Since around the Meiji Restoration, young samurai and heirs of noble families, often backed by the government or feudal lords, began attending universities abroad, such as Itō Hirobumi, who studied at University College London, and Saionji Kinmochi, who was born into a prominent kuge family and attended the University of Paris. The country’s first university, the University of Tokyo, was established in the 1870s. Since the 1920s, when early graduates of the university had risen through the ranks, most civilian prime ministers have been educated at universities in Japan.

## Table

Bold indicates institutions that are active as of October 2024.
| University | No. | Prime ministers |
| University of Tokyo | 17 | Hara Takashi, Katō Takaaki, Wakatsuki Reijirō, Hamaguchi Osachi, Kōki Hirota, Hiranuma Kiichirō, Kijūrō Shidehara, Shigeru Yoshida, Tetsu Katayama, Hitoshi Ashida, Ichirō Hatoyama, Nobusuke Kishi, Eisaku Satō, Takeo Fukuda, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Kiichi Miyazawa and Yukio Hatoyama |
| Waseda University | 7 | Tanzan Ishibashi, Noboru Takeshita, Keizō Obuchi, Yoshirō Mori, Yasuo Fukuda, Yoshihiko Noda and Fumio Kishida |
| Imperial Japanese Naval Academy | 6 | Yamamoto Gonnohyōe, Katō Tomosaburō, Saitō Makoto, Keisuke Okada, Mitsumasa Yonai and Kantarō Suzuki |
| Imperial Japanese Army Academy | 5 | Tanaka Giichi, Senjūrō Hayashi, Nobuyuki Abe, Hideki Tojo and Kuniaki Koiso |
| Keio University | 4 | Inukai Tsuyoshi, Ryutaro Hashimoto, Junichiro Koizumi and Shigeru Ishiba (incumbent) |
| Kyoto University | 2 | Fumimaro Konoe and Hayato Ikeda |
| Meiji University | 2 | Takeo Miki and Tomiichi Murayama |
| Sophia University | 1 | Morihiro Hosokawa |
| Gakushuin University | 1 | Tarō Asō |
| Chuo University | 1 | Toshiki Kaifu |
| Hosei University | 1 | Yoshihide Suga |
| Hitotsubashi University | 1 | Masayoshi Ōhira |
| Shiga University | 1 | Sōsuke Uno |
| Tokyo Institute of Technology | 1 | Naoto Kan |
| Seikei University | 1 | Shinzo Abe |
| Seijo University | 1 | Tsutomu Hata |
| Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology | 1 | Zenkō Suzuki |
| Chuo College of Technology | 1 | Kakuei Tanaka |
| Army War College | 1 | Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni |
| University College London | 1 | Itō Hirobumi |
| University of Paris | 1 | Saionji Kinmochi |
| Army Toyama School | 1 | Terauchi Masatake |
| Did not attend higher education | 7 | Kuroda Kiyotaka, Yamagata Aritomo, Matsukata Masayoshi, Ōkuma Shigenobu, Katsura Tarō, Takahashi Korekiyo and Kiyoura Keigo |

## List

| Prime Minister | Term of office | School | University | Degree | Additional education |
| Itō Hirobumi | 1885–1888 1892–1896 1898 1900–1901 | Shōkasonjuku Academy | University College London | — | |
| Kuroda Kiyotaka | 1888–1889 | Jigen-ryū | — | — | |
| Yamagata Aritomo | 1889–1891 1898–1900 | Shōkasonjuku Academy | — | — | |
| Matsukata Masayoshi | 1891–1892 1896–1898 | Zoshikan | — | — | |
| Ōkuma Shigenobu | 1898 1914–1916 | Kōdōkan | — | — | |
| Katsura Tarō | 1901–1906 1908–1911 1912–1913 | — | — | — | |
| Saionji Kinmochi | 1906–1908 1911–1912 | — | University of Paris | Law | |
| Yamamoto Gonnohyōe | 1913–1914 1923–1924 | — | Imperial Japanese Naval Academy | — | |
| Terauchi Masatake | 1916–1918 | — | Army Toyama School | — | |
| Hara Takashi | 1918–1921 | Marin Seminary | Tokyo Imperial University | Did not graduate | |
| Takahashi Korekiyo | 1921–1922 | — | — | — | |
| Katō Tomosaburō | 1922–1923 | — | Imperial Japanese Naval Academy | — | |
| Kiyoura Keigo | 1924 | Kangi-en | — | — | |
| Katō Takaaki | 1924–1926 | Nagoya Western School | Tokyo Imperial University | English law | |
| Wakatsuki Reijirō | 1926–1927 1931 | Shimane Prefectural Matsue Kita High School | Tokyo Imperial University | Law | |
| Tanaka Giichi | 1927–1929 | — | Imperial Japanese Army Academy | — | Army War College |
| Hamaguchi Osachi | 1929–1930 1931 | Third Higher School | Tokyo Imperial University | Law | |
| Inukai Tsuyoshi | 1931–1932 | — | Keio University | Sinology | |
| Saitō Makoto | 1932–1934 | — | Imperial Japanese Naval Academy | — | |
| Keisuke Okada | 1934–1936 | Imperial Japanese Army Academy | Imperial Japanese Naval Academy | — | |
| Kōki Hirota | 1936–1937 | First Higher School | Tokyo Imperial University | Law | |
| Senjūrō Hayashi | 1937 | Fourth Higher School | Imperial Japanese Army Academy | — | Army War College |
| Fumimaro Konoe | 1937–1939 1940–1941 | First Higher School | Kyoto Imperial University | Marxian economics | |
| Hiranuma Kiichirō | 1939 | First Higher School | Tokyo Imperial University | English law | |
| Nobuyuki Abe | 1939–1940 | Tokyo First Middle School | Imperial Japanese Army Academy | — | Army War College |
| Mitsumasa Yonai | 1940 | Morioka Middle School | Imperial Japanese Naval Academy | — | |
| Hideki Tojo | 1941–1944 | Army Central Children's School | Imperial Japanese Army Academy | — | Army War College |
| Kuniaki Koiso | 1944–1945 | Yamagata Middle School | Imperial Japanese Army Academy | — | |
| Kantarō Suzuki | 1945 | Kogyokusha Junior & Senior High School | Imperial Japanese Naval Academy | — | |
| Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni | 1945 | Gakushūin | Army War College | — | |
| Kijūrō Shidehara | 1945–1946 | Third Higher School | Tokyo Imperial University | Law | |
| Shigeru Yoshida | 1946–1947 1948–1954 | Tokyo Physics School | Tokyo Imperial University | Law | |
| Tetsu Katayama | 1947–1948 | Third Higher School | Tokyo Imperial University | Law | |
| Hitoshi Ashida | 1948 | First Higher School | Tokyo Imperial University | Law | |
| Ichirō Hatoyama | 1954–1956 | First Higher School | Tokyo Imperial University | English law | |
| Tanzan Ishibashi | 1956–1957 | Waseda University Junior and Senior High School | Waseda University | Literature | |
| Nobusuke Kishi | 1957–1960 | First Higher School | Tokyo Imperial University | German law | |
| Hayato Ikeda | 1960–1964 | Fifth Higher School | Kyoto Imperial University | Law | |
| Eisaku Satō | 1964–1972 | Fifth Higher School | Tokyo Imperial University | Law | |
| Kakuei Tanaka | 1972–1974 | Kinjo Gakuen High School | Chuo College of Technology | Civil engineering | |
| Takeo Miki | 1974–1976 | Tokushima Prefectural Commercial School | Meiji University | Law | |
| Takeo Fukuda | 1976–1978 | First Higher School | Tokyo Imperial University | Law | |
| Masayoshi Ōhira | 1978–1980 | Takamatsu High School of Commerce | Tokyo University of Commerce | Economics | |
| Zenkō Suzuki | 1980–1982 | Iwate Prefectural Fisheries School | Tokyo University of Fisheries | — | |
| Yasuhiro Nakasone | 1982–1987 | Shizuoka Higher School | Tokyo Imperial University | Law | |
| Noboru Takeshita | 1987–1989 | Waseda University Junior and Senior High School | Waseda University | Economics | |
| Sōsuke Uno | 1989 | Shiga Prefectural Yawata Commercial School | Hikone Commercial College | Economics | |
| Toshiki Kaifu | 1989–1991 | Tokai Junior High School | Chuo University | Law | Waseda University |
| Kiichi Miyazawa | 1991–1993 | Musashi Higher School | Tokyo Imperial University | Law | |
| Morihiro Hosokawa | 1993–1994 | Gakushūin | Sophia University | Law | |
| Tsutomu Hata | 1994 | Seijo Academy High School | Seijo University | Economics | |
| Tomiichi Murayama | 1994–1996 | Oita Municipal High School | Meiji University | Political science | |
| Ryutaro Hashimoto | 1996–1998 | Azabu High School | Keio University | Law | |
| Keizō Obuchi | 1998–2000 | Tokyo Metropolitan Kita High School | Waseda University | Political science | |
| Yoshirō Mori | 2000–2001 | Kanazawa Nisui High School | Waseda University | Economics | |
| Junichiro Koizumi | 2001–2006 | Yokosuka High School | Keio University | Economics | University College London |
| Shinzo Abe | 2006–2007 2012–2020 | Seikei Senior High School | Seikei University | Political science | University of Southern California (dropped out) |
| Yasuo Fukuda | 2007–2008 | Azabu High School | Waseda University | Economics | |
| Tarō Asō | 2008–2009 | Gakushūin | Gakushuin University | Political science | Stanford University (dropped out) London School of Economics |
| Yukio Hatoyama | 2009–2010 | Tokyo Metropolitan Koishikawa High School | University of Tokyo | Engineering | Stanford University |
| Naoto Kan | 2010–2011 | Tokyo Metropolitan Koyamadai High School | Tokyo Institute of Technology | Science | |
| Yoshihiko Noda | 2011–2012 | Chiba Prefectural Funabashi Senior High School | Waseda University | Political science | |
| Yoshihide Suga | 2020–2021 | Akita Prefectural Yuzawa High School | Hosei University | Law | |
| Fumio Kishida | 2021–2024 | Kaisei Academy | Waseda University | Law | |
| Shigeru Ishiba | 2024–present | Keio Senior High School | Keio University | Law | |
| Prime Minister | Term of office | School | University | Degree | Additional education |