According to the World University Rankings 2010-2011, published by the Times Higher Education on Sept. 16, the number of Japanese universities ranking among the world's top 200 dwindled to five from 11 the previous year.
As a result, Japan relinquished its top position in Asia to China, which had six universities listed among the top 200. The five Japanese universities are the University of Tokyo (26), Kyoto University (57), Tokyo Institute of Technology (112), Osaka University (130) and Tohoku University (132).
The rankings were determined on the basis of 13 performance indicators, including citations from academic papers and the number of students per staff instructor.