The Department of Geography offers a broad curriculum spanning the earth and geographical sciences. Courses are organized around five laboratory streams—Geomorphology and Quaternary Geology, Climatology, Environmental Geography, Geographical Information Sciences, and Urban and Human Geography—allowing students to gather the information they need to choose the laboratory that best fits their interests. In the Climatology stream, lectures examine atmospheric phenomena across a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, while practicums introduce fundamental weather‐observation techniques and basic meteorological data analysis.

These scientific studies are complemented by liberal-arts coursework that equips students with the knowledge essential for advanced research. For those interested in the Climatology, proficiency in English, mathematics, statistics, physics, and programming is especially important for effective data analysis and literature review.

During the junior year, students take part in a practicum known as the Grand Excursion (daijunken). Working in laboratory-based teams, they conduct fieldwork and produce a report on their observations. Laboratory choice is entirely up to the student; in practice, the Grand Excursion in which they participate almost always determines the laboratory to which they will belong from the senior year onward.

The Grand Excursion serves as a rehearsal for the graduation thesis that students undertake in their senior year. In our laboratory, the survey typically involves a three- to four-night domestic field campaign during the summer vacation. Before departure, students prepare instruments and engage in background study; after returning, they analyze the observational data and present their results in a written report. By managing meteorological datasets and conducting journal reviews, they develop the analytical techniques and critical reading skills essential for advanced research.

Alongside the Grand Excursion, juniors participate in a reading seminar devoted to textbooks and research articles. They begin with an introductory meteorology textbook, mastering the theoretical foundations of atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics. Building on this knowledge, they then read research articles and present them to their peers—starting with papers in Japanese and ultimately progressing to articles published in English.

In the senior year, students make a formal commitment to a laboratory and begin research for their graduation thesis. They attend the laboratory’s weekly main seminar, where they present and discuss their own research as well as those of their peers, using the feedback to refine their data analyses and journal reviews. Each September the laboratory conducts a one- or two-night seminar camp, providing an intensive setting for rehearsal of interim presentations and for further sharpening of research plans. The completed thesis is submitted in February; once it is accepted, the student is cleared for graduation and awarded the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree.

Students who wish to pursue their research beyond the bachelor’s level may enter the Master’s Program by passing the graduate-school entrance examination. The Department of Geography welcomes applicants both from within the university and from other institutions. Leveraging the knowledge and skills acquired as undergraduates, graduate students deepen their investigations through weekly main seminars and smaller, student- or staff-led “sub seminars,” in which they refine their ideas through sustained discussion. At the end of the program’s second year, they submit a master’s thesis; once it is accepted, they are awarded the degree of Master of Science (M.Sc.) or Master of Geography.

Upon completing the master’s program, students may advance to the Doctoral Program. Those who fulfill its requirements and successfully defend their doctoral dissertation earn the degree of Ph.D. in Science or Geography.