Saitama University is the only national university in Saitama Prefecture, which borders the north of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The University is located in the western outskirts of Saitama City, the capital of Saitama Prefecture. Saitama City is thriving with more than one million inhabitants; it is the largest municipality in the northern Kanto region.
As seen in the aerial photograph on page 1, the Okubo campus of Saitama University provides an excellent environment for learning and research with many trees of various kinds surrounding each university building. The campus can be reached in only one hour by train and bus from Japan Railways Tokyo Station, a landmark of the central part of Tokyo.
The University has five faculties (schools) for undergraduate education -Liberal Arts, Education, Economics, Science, and Engineering- and four graduate schools -Cultural Science, Education, Economic Science, and Science and Engineering-, all offering programs leading to doctorates as well as master’s degrees. The total enrollment of undergraduate students was 7,496, and that of graduate students 1,225 in the academic year 2003-2004, including students from abroad. The total number of full-time faculty members was about 470 in the same period.