Japan's University of Tokyo has come in 28th in global rankings compiled by a British educational journal, up one spot from last year.

Times Higher Education, or THE, released its annual World University Rankings on Wednesday. The evaluations are based on a set of indicators that measure performance across five areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.

This year, THE ranked more than 2,000 institutions from 115 countries and territories.

The top 10 spots are dominated by British and US universities, with the University of Oxford holding on to the top spot for the ninth consecutive year.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranked second and Harvard University came in third.

In Asia, China has two universities in the top 15 for the second consecutive year. Tsinghua University ranks 12th, and Peking University is 13th. The National University of Singapore came in 17th.

Japan's University of Tokyo placed 28th, and Kyoto University is 55th, the same as last year.

Japanese universities are said to be suffering from reduced government funding and rising costs. THE quotes analysts as saying that British universities are also facing financial difficulties.

Meanwhile, THE points out that increasing levels of government investment in Chinese universities has driven the country's reputation.

It says China has been boosting its global research influence and is edging closer to the top 10.