University of Tokyo ranked 29th globally by Times Higher Education

Two leading Japanese universities have risen in global rankings compiled by a British educational journal.

Times Higher Education released its annual World University Rankings on Wednesday. The evaluations are based on a set of indicators that measure performance across five areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.

The survey ranked the state-run University of Tokyo in 29th position, up ten places from last year. Kyoto University is in 55th place, up from 68th last year.

The top 10 is dominated by British and US universities again this year.

The University of Oxford tops the rankings for the eighth year in a row. Stanford University moves up to second place, up one rank from last year.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology climbed two places to number three. Harvard University was ranked fourth, down two places from last year. The University of Cambridge slipped to fifth place after having shared the number three position with Stanford last year.

For the first time, China has two universities in the top 15. Tsinghua University is ranked 12th, and Peking University is 14th.

Times Higher Education quotes an educational expert as saying that the Chinese government's generous funding and other factors have helped the nation's universities to rise in the global rankings.