Kyoto University has academic exchange agreements with a hundred and fifty-three universities, four university associations, and eleven national academies.

Kyoto has a long history as a university town. In the Heian period (794-1185), when Kyoto was the nation’s capital, it was the location of an imperial institution of higher education called the Daigaku-ryo. Comparable to today’s national universities, staff members at the Daigakuk-ryo held posts equivalent to the current positions of university president, teaching staff, and administrative staff, and departments within the institution were also the equivalent of current university faculties. At present, Kyoto embraces thirty-eight institutions of higher education, making it one of the most concentrates academic centers in Japan.