One gets a sense of the important status of Todai from the system of student recruitment--top students chosen by local government--in the Meiji era, from the use of its top literature graduates in the highest levels of government in the Imperial era, and from the fact that 80 or 90 percent of Japan's prime ministers (including Nakasone, Sato, and Fukuda) are from Todai.
從明治時期「開成學校」（東大前身）的「貢進生制度」﹘﹘從各藩鎮中選取俊彥至東大讀書，並授予學位；到帝大時期，優先任用文法科畢業生擔任政府高等文官；至現在的日本政府內閣首相（如中曾根康弘、佐藤榮作、福田糾夫等）十之八九出於東大等例子，皆可看出東大人在日本社會的崇高地位。