Master's Program, Department of Economics, Division of Economics, Graduate School of Economics

2 years English open

4-stage learning journey

2 years · English

Year 1 — core coursework and choice of supervisor Students enter on 1 April 2027 (Schedule A) or 1 October 2027 (Schedule B) and begin the English-medium core sequences in microeconomic theory, macroeconomics and econometrics alongside the mathematics and academic-skills courses. "At the Department of Economics, there are many English-taught courses, of which core courses such as microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics are offered in English." During the winter semester (April entrants) or the summer semester (October entrants) of the first year students must submit a request naming the supervisor of their choice; the Education Council reviews the request and designates a supervisor by the end of March (April entrants) or the end of September (October entrants). "Some supervisors may have designated prerequisite courses for accepting a request for supervision." Microeconomics I Microeconomics II Macroeconomics I Macroeconomics II Econometrics I Econometrics II Mathematics for Economics Essential Academic Skills Advanced Mathematical Statistics I and II Probability Theory I and II Applied Statistics Years 1–2 — field specialisation and research workshops After the core, "students in this department are expected to choose a few of these special fields and work on them intensively after having mastered the basics of economic theory and statistical analysis." The department offers "a variety of advanced courses including general equilibrium theory, game theory, contract theory, empirical macroeconomics, and economic dynamics", and applied fields spanning fiscal policy and public economics, financial institutions and monetary policy, industrial organization and economics of law, international trade and global finance, labor economics and social policy, urban studies and transportation economics, and economic development and area studies. Credit-bearing research workshops run in parallel with coursework. Under the Graduate School Rules, up to 4 credits may come from Faculty courses and the Center for Global Education and up to 8 from other graduate schools or education units, with up to 15 credits transferable from graduate study at another university. Mechanism Design; Advanced Topics in Matching Theory and Market Design; Information Acquisition and Disclosure in Mechanism Design; Introduction to Persuasion and Information Design Recent Advances in Game Theory; Topics in Game Theory; Topics in Microeconomic Theory; Advances in Economic Theory Topics in Macroeconomic Theory; Macroeconomic Dynamics; Empirical Analysis of Dynamic Macroeconomic Models; Macroeconomics Based on Micro Data; Economic Analysis of Pandemics; Central Banking Topics in Econometrics; Causal Inference; Bayesian Statistics I and II; Topics in Bayesian Statistics; Topics in Mathematical Statistics; Topics in Multivariate Statistics; Applied Mathematical Programming; Applied Economic Statistics Contemporary Public Finance I and II; Tax Competition Theory; Financial System I; World Economy I Political Economics; Topics in Political Economics; Political Economy of Regime Change; Gender and Politics Foundations of Development Economics; Advanced Development Microeconomics; Development Economics: Microeconomic Approach; Development Economics: Macroeconomic Approach; Interdisciplinary Issues in Development Economics; Environmental Economics History of Economic Theories; Social and Economic Thoughts; Principles of Political Economy; Methodology of Political Economy; Recent Developments in Methodology and Philosophy of Economics Research workshops: Microeconomic Theory Workshop I/II; Macroeconomics Workshop I/II; Empirical Microeconomics Workshop I/II; Applied Statistics Workshop; Joint Seminar in Statistics Year 2 — master's thesis "Students who wish to submit a master's thesis must be enrolled in a master's program for more than one year and have earned 16 or more credits as stipulated in Article 9 of 'The University of Tokyo Rules for the Graduate School of Economics.'" The thesis title is registered in early November (April entrants) or early May (October entrants) of the academic year, and the thesis itself is submitted in early January (April entrants) or late June (October entrants). Students must read the "Guidelines for Writing Research Papers and Theses" and the "Code of Conduct for Scientific Research" and sign a pledge to observe them when submitting. The degree criterion is "a thesis submitted by a candidate that indicates a discovery and demonstration of a significant research topic in a specialized field of economics and business management. The candidate is considered to possess the ability to carry out research activities in their chosen field or the ability to assume responsibilities in a profession in which highly specialized knowledge is required." Master's thesis (with title registration and signed research-integrity pledge) Completion — final examination and degree conferral "In the Master's program, students must take at least 30 credits and receive necessary academic advice." "The final examination will be taken by students who have obtained the required credits, received necessary academic advice and submitted a thesis. The date and method of final examinations shall be announced in advance." On satisfying the completion requirements, students of the Division of Economics are awarded the Master of Economics. "To complete each program, a student must have been enrolled at each program for defined years, have obtained defined credits by taking courses including any required courses, have received sufficient research guidance, and have passed the screening of the master's degree thesis or doctoral dissertations and its defense." At least 30 credits in total Final examination (thesis defense)

Year 1 — core coursework and choice of supervisor curriculum

The detailed course list for this stage has not been published yet.

Course domains

Microeconomic Theory — One of the six fields an applicant must nominate in the Web Entry System as the field "that most relates to their research plan" for the oral examination.
Macroeconomics — Oral-examination field 2 of 6.
Labor Economics — Oral-examination field 3 of 6.
Public Finance, Public Economics and Urban Economics — Oral-examination field 4 of 6.
Industrial Organization — Oral-examination field 5 of 6.
Development and International Economics — Oral-examination field 6 of 6.
Core economic theory and quantitative methods — "This department offers core lecture courses on microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics to acquire the fundamental knowledge of economic theory,
Applied and policy fields — "Students can learn a wide variety of special fields, such as fiscal policy and public economics, financial institutions and monetary policy, industrial organization and ec
Faculty research themes — Supervising faculty publish research themes including macroeconomics; economic theory; international trade and applied microeconomics; labour economics, economics of educatio
University keywords for the programme — "Macroeconomics, microeconomics, econometrics" — the field-of-study keywords the University of Tokyo publishes for this entry on its Graduate Degree Programs Of

Doctoral study (outside the scope of this record) — "After graduation from our Master's program, our students choose their careers broadly in two ways. Some students chose to continue their studies by

Employment — "Others have chosen to apply their knowledge at their workplace such as consulting, financial services, tech firms, and governments at both Tokyo and overseas."

Published outcome statistics (whole Graduate School master's programme) — Of 86 master's completers in AY2025 (令和7年度), 16 (19%) went on to further study and 59 (69%) into employment; 11 did not respon

Recent employers (whole Graduate School master's programme, AY2025) — Named destinations include McKinsey & Company Japan, Boston Consulting Group, Accenture, PwC Japan, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Alva

Employment while enrolled — "Please note that no special consideration will be given to course offering periods and professors' office hours for students at this graduate school except for the student

"By providing students with a broad and deep knowledge of various fields of economics, our program aims to nurture students as scholars who can conduct advanced international academic research and who

The programme looks for students "who are able to acquire the ability to analyze and think about economic and social phenomena precisely and logically from the perspective of economics and closely rel

The programme looks for students "who demonstrate the ability to address a new challenge in the economy and society and open a new path with an innovative approach to an existing model."

The programme looks for students "who aim to lead in various fields both at home and abroad in the future by acquiring and enhancing expertise and research capability at graduate school based on the b

"Have expertise related to the chosen major." "Have basic foreign language ability to engage in international activities."

"The educational and research purpose of the Graduate School is to develop researchers who engage in world-leading academic research in the various fields of economics and business administration base

"At the Department of Economics, students will have the opportunity to study under the supervision of leading researchers and develop expertise across a wide range of economics fields. Given the incre

Core learning formats

Microeconomics I and II, Macroeconomics I and II, Econometrics I and II, plus Mathematics for Economics and Essential Academic Skills, are all listed as English-medium graduate courses for AY2026. "Co
English-medium advanced courses for AY2026 include Mechanism Design, Advanced Topics in Matching Theory and Market Design, Recent Advances in Game Theory, Topics in Microeconomic Theory, Topics in Mac
Regular English-medium research workshops run as credit-bearing courses: Microeconomic Theory Workshop I/II, Macroeconomics Workshop I/II, Empirical Microeconomics Workshop I/II, Applied Statistics Wo
"Students in a master's program must submit a request naming the supervisor of his/her choice during the winter semester (April Enrolment) / the summer semester (October Enrolment) of their first year
A master's thesis is written, submitted and defended in a final examination. "Students will have the opportunity to study under the supervision of leading researchers."
"Students can take courses based on their interests and preferences, irrespective of their affiliated division or department." Rules allow up to 4 credits from Faculty courses and the Center for Globa
Course registration and academic records run through UTAS; teaching materials through UTOL (UTokyo LMS); course information through the UTokyo Online Course Catalogue. IDs are issued at the Graduate S
Programme sources (23)