The rationale for the league table is the dynamism of Asia as the middle class expands and money pours into teaching and research, a state of affairs in stark contrast with the West in austerity.
The University of Tokyo takes the No. 1 spot in the rankings published today and Japan has the largest number of institutions (22) in the top 100, compared with Taiwan's 17, China's 15 and Korea's 14.
"Japan still has the strongest group of research universities in Asia because it had a 25-year head start on the other East Asian systems (but it) is no longer building capacity like the rest of Asia," Melbourne University's professor of higher education Simon Marginson tells THE.
He says Japan is likely to be eclipsed in the longer term because of China's rapid growth and investment.
"The situation in India is less happy (than in China) because the key ingredient that underpins the East Asian higher education systems - a strong central state prepared to invest heavily, drive performance and secure continuing improvement in visible outcomes - is missing."
THE says the new ranking uses a UN definition of Asia as a continent, therefore including the Middle East but excluding Australia.
THE uses the same indicators for teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook as its main World University Rankings.
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