Tokyo University of the Arts to Establish Game Department MA; Aims to Conduct, Disseminate Game Research

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, July 26, 2025

Tokyo University of the Arts announced Thursday that it will establish a “Department of Games and Interactive Arts” master’s program in the Graduate School of Film and New Media in April 2026.

“Japanese games, which have exploded in popularity, have gained worldwide recognition and should be promoted,” President Katsuhiko Hibino said at a press conference in Tokyo. “We aim to conduct and disseminate research on games from the unique perspective of an arts university with expertise in fine arts and music.”

The university views games as a “new form of comprehensive art in the modern era” that combines multiple artistic fields — including fine arts, music and video — with digital technology. Since 2019, the university has been conducting research through a Game Course within the Graduate School of Film and New Media. However, with the increasing use of games in various spheres of society, such as healthcare, education and regional revitalization, the university decided to establish a new department.

The planned enrollment capacity is 20 students, and the university expects to admit not only students with backgrounds in the arts but also those from the fields of information science and engineering.