Tama Art University

What Tama Art University does

Tama Art University (多摩美術大学, "Tamabi") is a private, non-profit educational institution incorporated as a school corporation (学校法人) under Japanese law, operating two Tokyo campuses — the founding Kaminoge Campus in Setagaya Ward (housing Integrated Design, Theater and Dance Design, the Graduate School, and the Art Faculty headquarters) and the larger Hachioji Campus in Hachioji City (housing Painting, Sculpture, Crafts, Graphic Design, Product Design, Textile Design, Architecture and Environmental Design, Media Arts, Information Design, Art Studies, and the Liberal Arts Center). The university delivers 10 undergraduate departments plus a graduate school spanning traditional fine arts (Japanese painting, oil painting, printmaking, sculpture, crafts), applied design disciplines (graphic, product, textile, architectural and environmental, integrated), emerging media (media arts, information design), and performing arts (theater and dance), serving prospective Japanese and international students through a four-pathway admission system (General Selection, Common Test I, Common Test II without practical skills, and Comprehensive/Recommendation Selection), with supporting infrastructure that includes a 140,000+ volume library (housed in a 2007 building designed by Toyo Ito), the Art Archive Center (established 2018, holding 19 archival collections), Media Centers with video/3DCG/photography facilities, and a Creative Support Center offering FDM and DLP 3D printers, CNC equipment, painting facilities, and an 80-PC studio.

The business model is fundamentally tuition-driven: revenue is generated primarily through annual tuition and fees billed to undergraduate and graduate enrollees in the Faculty of Fine Arts and the Graduate School, with fee schedules published annually. Auxiliary revenue streams include lifelong-learning programs delivered by the Lifelong Learning Center (children's and adult workshops, public lectures), the Tama Art University Bureau (TUB) exhibition and project space at Tokyo Midtown Design Hub, and the Up & Coming alumni gallery in Shibuya. Student-facing technology provisioning is unusually strong for the sector: every enrolled student receives Google Workspace, the CampusSquare web-based student information system for course registration and records, and free Adobe Creative Cloud access — differentiated against peers. Career services operate through the Career Center (and the "Tama Career" online portal), with documented placement outcomes spanning Shimadzu (UI/UX), Nissin Foods (graphic and packaging design), TOPPAN (PBL design strategy), Kao (packaging and brand design), DeNA (product management), and teamLab (visual / VR design).

On the go-to-market side, prospective-student recruitment runs as a hybrid event-driven and content-led operation: twice-yearly open campus events (in-person and online formats), nationwide consultation sessions, a LINE official-account concierge, a YouTube channel, and social media presence on X, Instagram, and Facebook, supplemented by the TAMABI NEWS magazine (currently at issue 104+) and an online material-request portal (Telemail). Faculty leadership was refreshed in April 2025, including Vice President Fukazawa Naoto (the first Japanese recipient of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Collab Design Excellence Award) and new department chairs. The institution was founded in 1935 as Tama Imperial Art School; it observes a "Freedom and Will" (自由と意力) educational philosophy, celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2025, and is completing a new Kaminoge Campus main building designed by President Naito Hiroshi for use beginning academic year 2026.

Name

Tama Art University

Legal name

学校法人 多摩美術大学

Website

https://tamabi.ac.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1935

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Tama Art University (多摩美術大学) is a private, non-profit Japanese art university operating two Tokyo campuses (Kaminoge and Hachioji) with 10 undergraduate departments plus a graduate school covering fine arts, design, architecture, media, and performing arts, serving prospective Japanese and international students through annual tuition-based enrollment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education (Art & Design)

NAICS

Fine Arts Schools (61161), Fine Arts Schools (611610), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Fine Arts Colleges (Painting, Sculpture, Printmaking) (EDAHAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Design Colleges (Graphic, Industrial, UX/UI, Interior) (EDAHAJAB), Digital Arts & Design (Graphic Design, Illustration, Animation) (EDAMAAAB), Visual Arts (Drawing, Painting, Illustration) (EDAAAGAA)

Keywords

• Art education
• Higher education
• Fine arts university
• Design programs
• Creative arts college

Headquarters

HQ city

Hachioji

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Enrollment Fees: Revenue is generated primarily through tuition and fees charged to undergraduate and graduate students. The university publishes annual tuition schedules for the Faculty of Fine Arts and Graduate School.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Tama Art University is a comprehensive art university offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs across 10 departments and a graduate school, covering painting, sculpture, crafts, graphic design, product design, textile design, architecture, media arts, information design, theater and dance design, and integrated design. It delivers instruction across two Tokyo campuses (Kaminoge in Setagaya and Hachioji) supported by specialized fabrication facilities, media centers, an art archive, and a library holding over 140,000 volumes.

Product overview

Tama Art University is a comprehensive art university with two campuses (Hachiōji and Kaminoge) offering 10 academic departments and graduate programs covering painting, sculpture, crafts, design, architecture, media arts, theater, dance, and art studies. The university operates supporting facilities including the Tama Art University Museum, Art Archive Center, Institute for Anthropology of Art and Design, Creative Support Center with digital fabrication equipment, and the Lifetime Learning Center for public education. Student services include Google Workspace, CampusSquare, Adobe Creative Cloud, and the Tama Career portal. The university also maintains community outreach through TUB at Tokyo Midtown and the Up & Coming gallery space for alumni.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Department of Painting
• Department of Sculpture
• Department of Crafts
• Department of Graphic Design
• Department of Product Design
• Department of Textile Design
• Department of Architecture and Environmental Design
• Department of Art Studies
• Department of Media Arts
• Department of Information Design
• Department of Integrated Design
• Department of Theater and Dance Design
• Graduate School of Art and Design
• Lifetime Learning Center

Quantifiable outcome

• Approximately half of the Top 100 companies in the Toyo Keizai 'Most Desired Companies' ranking hire Tama Art graduates for creative and general positions.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Tokyo University of the Arts and Tokyo Denki UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 March 2025Students from Tama Art University, Tokyo University of the Arts, and Tokyo Denki University collaborated in the '3T Project' to create joint works across music, art, and engineering disciplines.
• DIESELminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 December 2024Graduate students from the Textile Design department participated in DIESEL's 2025 Fall/Winter Collection graffiti art project. Approximately 50 meters of a 3+ kilometer graffiti fabric created by about 7,000 graffiti artists was produced by Tama Art graduate students as part of the runway art for the fashion show.
• TOPPAN HoldingscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024TOPPAN has an ongoing collaborative relationship with Tama Art University, including joint research in the Integrated Design Department's PBL (Project Based Learning) program. In 2024, students worked with TOPPAN on design strategy development for 'well-being spaces and co-creative housing.' TOPPAN is a major printing and information solutions company that actively recruits Tama Art graduates.
• Tokyo University of the Arts and Tokyo Denki UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024The three universities conducted a joint event 'TSUNAGU - transient texture technology' at Tokyo University of the Arts 'Music no Michi' venue on March 22. This was a kickoff event for the '3T Project,' a collaborative student project among the three institutions aimed at fostering cross-disciplinary creative expression.
• KaocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKao, a major Japanese consumer goods company, has hired multiple Tama Art graduates who work on packaging, product design, and advertising creative. The company's design teams rely on graduates' abilities to visually communicate concepts that transcend verbal expression.
• Nissin Foods HoldingscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNissin Foods recruits Tama Art graduates for design roles in packaging and product development. Notable projects include the design of 'Nissin Yakisoba U.F.O.' packaging by graduate Maharu Sugisawa. The company's approach to creating new food culture aligns with the university's creative education philosophy.
• University Consortium HachiojiminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTama Art University participates in the University Consortium Hachioji, a network of 25 universities and junior colleges in the Hachioji area that offers cross-enrollment and shared educational resources. Graphic design students have won poster design contests organized by this consortium.
• Japan Philharmonic Symphony OrchestraminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGraduate Miyazaki Takuya (Class of 2020, Graphic Design) served as art director and planner for the Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra's 'The Symphony Plotter' project, which received multiple international awards including NY ADC Award and Spikes Asia Bronze.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Tokyo University of the Arts: Japan's premier national arts university (Geidai), covering fine arts, music, film, and new media at both undergraduate and graduate levels. As a national institution it is broader in scope and stronger in traditional fine arts, but competes for the same top Japanese creative talent and faculty.

Direct peers

• Tokyo Zokei University: Tokyo-based private art university with similar department structure covering design, film, and fine arts. Comparable scale and tuition model, competing directly for the same Tokyo-area art student demographic.
• Kobe Design University: Private design-focused university in Kobe covering product, graphic, interior, and fashion design. Comparable private-institution tuition model and comparable-scale art/design curriculum, focused more narrowly on design than Tama's comprehensive offering.
• Musashino Art University: Japan's other major private comprehensive art university, founded 1929, with comparable size, department breadth (fine arts, design, architecture, film), and Tokyo footprint. Direct competitor for the same Japanese art-aspiring student pool and employer recruiting relationships.
• Joshibi University of Art and Design: Long-established private art university in Tokyo/Kanagawa with comprehensive fine arts and design departments. Direct competitor for female art students and similar in program structure, scale, and tuition model.

Regional players

• Kyoto City University of Arts: Public art university in Kyoto with strong fine arts and music departments. While public and more fine-arts-focused, it competes for top Japanese creative students and is a benchmark for graduate-level arts education in Japan.
• Nagoya University of Arts: Private comprehensive art university in central Japan covering music, fine arts, design, and performing arts. Comparable private-institution structure competing for the same national applicant pool with regional recruitment advantage.
• Kanazawa College of Art: Public art college in Kanazawa offering fine arts, design, and crafts programs with strong traditional craft orientation. Comparable in scale and curriculum structure but serving the Hokuriku region rather than Tokyo.
• Kyoto University of the Arts (formerly Kyoto Sangyo University): Private art and design university in Kyoto offering comprehensive programs across fine arts, design, film, and performing arts. Comparable private-sector model and curriculum breadth, competing for the same national applicant pool.
• Osaka University of Arts: Comprehensive private art university serving the Kansai region with comparable department breadth across fine arts, design, music, performing arts, and architecture. Regional competitor drawing students from western Japan who might otherwise consider Tama.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/tamabi_kikaku
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCj2c0AWUZxVKSVzorzIw0Yw
• Facebookfacebook.com/TamaArtUniversity/?locale=ja_JP
• Instagraminstagram.com/tamaartuniversity

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tama Art University