October 15, 2004

Tokyo's Universities Expand in the City, Shrink in the Suburbs

By ALAN BRENDER

Private universities in Tokyo are pulling students and departments back into the city from outlying regions as a result of falling urban land prices, decreasing construction costs, and dwindling enrollments across the country.

In the boom times of the 1980s and early '90s, universities established sprawling campuses in suburban areas and in nearby prefectures. Spiraling land and construction costs, and limited land availability during the "bubble economy," restricted universities in