[Feature: Passing Down the Stories of War] Masashi Mochizuki: Waseda and the War — Through an Examination of the Fukuzawa Yukichi Memorial Keio History Museum's "2024 Spring Special Exhibition: Keio University and the War — From Objects to People"

Image: November 23, 1943, "After the Keio students' Send-off Ceremony," Keio students leaving Mita through the Main Gate (Maboroshi no Mon).

Last summer, the "2024 Spring Special Exhibition: Keio University and the War — From Objects to People" was held at the Keio History Museum, and its catalog, "Keio University and the War — From Objects to People" (pictured), was published alongside it. It is an innovative project that approaches the theme of "Keio University and the War" through 50 keywords, and is rich in diagrams, photographs, and materials. It can be said that this catalog will be an essential reference for future research on "Universities and the War," not just for Keio.

Inspired by this catalog, this article examines Waseda University during the era of war by contrasting it with Keio University. What differences between Waseda and Keio will emerge from this comparison?

When discussing the framework of "Universities and the War," it is common sense to start with the Second Sino-Japanese War, when universities were integrated into the wartime system through conscription and mobilization. I opened this catalog with that assumption, but the opening Keyword 01 [Keio University and the War] defied my expectations *1.

"It goes without saying that 'war' in the context of 'Keio University and the War' primarily refers to the Showa era, but one cannot overlook the history of how those engaged in scholarship have faced the question of how to confront 'war' since the end of the Edo period" (p. 5).

The "history" referred to here is the "anecdote of how Fukuzawa continued classes according to the schedule even on May 15, 1868, the day of the Battle of Ueno, when the Shogitai clashed with the New Government forces" (p. 10). The manuscript of "The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi" containing this passage serves as the first material, 01-1 [Fukuzawa Yukichi's 'The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi' Manuscript (Battle of Ueno)], in the "Keio University and the War" exhibition. I was reminded once again that this incredibly famous anecdote of Fukuzawa is part of Keio's DNA. If we apply this Keio perspective to Waseda, what would be the starting point for telling the story of war?

On April 4, 1905, twelve players from the Waseda University Baseball Club, led by Director Isoo Abe, set sail from Yokohama Port for an American tour. This was in the midst of the Russo-Japanese War, shortly after the Battle of Mukden. On board the SS Korea bound for America, Director Abe wrote the following about the significance of the tour:

"We do not expect to win this competition from the start, but even if we fail, we intend to attempt to compete in America many times in the future. There is no need to feel ashamed just because we lost. In fact, the reason I thought of international competition in the first place was to discard such narrow-minded thinking" ("Account of the Waseda University Baseball Players' Trip to America" No. 3, Asahi Shimbun, May 11, 1905).

Here, one can see the spirit of the Waseda Baseball Club as they boldly challenged America, the advanced nation of baseball. Their record in America was 7 wins and 19 losses. They returned to Japan on June 29, but the contribution of this challenge to the subsequent development of the Japanese baseball world is immeasurable. Incidentally, when the team ordered new uniforms in March, they changed to a light adzuki-bean color with the school name standing out in maroon Roman letters. This maroon color would later become Waseda's school color *2.

On October 2, 1943, the "Temporary Special Exception for the Postponement of Conscription for Students" was promulgated by Imperial Decree, and the postponement of conscription for students was suspended. This was the decision for student mobilization. Keyword 12 [Keio students' Send-off Ceremony] describes the send-off ceremony for student mobilization as follows:

"Apart from the send-off ceremony sponsored by the Ministry of Education, individual universities also held ceremonies. In the case of Keio, it was held at Mita on November 23, 1943. On that day, starting at 9:30 a.m., a ceremony was first held at Inariyama Square in front of the Mita Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall), which included the President's instructions, a farewell address from a representative of the current students, and a response from a representative of the departing Keio students" (p. 7).

When I read this explanation, I could hardly believe my eyes. I wondered if it was October 23 instead of November 23.

Students whose conscription was postponed had to undergo physical examinations for the draft at their place of registered domicile between October 25 and November 5 *3. Therefore, each university hurriedly held send-off ceremonies before then. At Waseda, a university-sponsored send-off ceremony was held on October 15 at the Totsuka Dojo (later Abe Stadium; currently the Waseda University Center for Scholarly Information). In a venue packed with students, Waseda President Hozumi Tanaka gave instructions to inspire the students, saying, "The time has now come for you to put down your pens and take up swords *4."

The following day, the 16th, the "Waseda-Keio Send-off Baseball Game," the so-called "Last Waseda-Keio rivalry," was held at the same Totsuka Dojo. On the 21st, the "Send-off Ceremony for Student Soldiers" sponsored by the Ministry of Education's School Patriotic Corps was held at the Meiji Jingu Gaien Stadium. Student soldiers were to enter the Army on December 1 and the Navy on December 10, and since the timing of the aforementioned physical examinations was also fixed, the send-off ceremonies had to be finished by just after October 20.

The reason why Keio's send-off ceremony was on November 23 is resolved by reading Keyword 11 [Classes Before Departure]. Material 11-1 shows a photographic version of a notice for departing Keio students posted by President Shinzo Koizumi on October 19, which states, "After returning to the Juku following the completion of the examination, I hope you will again apply yourselves diligently to your studies and thus bring your student life before enlistment to a proper conclusion" (p. 26). In other words, while there were physical examinations and various preparations, it is said that "at Keio University, students were encouraged to attend classes as much as possible until the very end" (p. 7). Naturally, it would be necessary to consider the students' hometowns and other factors regarding this point, but even so, this decision is nothing short of admirable today.

The 21st keyword in this catalog is "War Responsibility." When I saw this keyword, I felt strongly that Keio was finally going to delve into this issue. Twenty years ago, it might have been difficult even to establish this category.

Keyword 21 [War Responsibility] states the following:

"There were 55 universities under the old system in Japan at the end of the war. The majority of the heads of these universities were forced from their positions before the end of their terms, but President Shinzo Koizumi retired at the end of his term. Furthermore, all faculty and some staff members were screened for their wartime history and discourse by eligibility screening committees established according to their affiliations. They were judged as eligible or ineligible, and those judged ineligible were purged from their positions. In the case of Keio University, six faculty members were found ineligible" (p. 9).

The commentary for Material 21-3 [Tadao Takemura Eligibility Screening Judgment] lists the names of the six professors and the reasons for their ineligibility (p. 41). In short, at Keio, it can be said that the wartime words, actions, and positions of individual faculty members were called into question regarding war responsibility *5.

So, what about Waseda? "The Hundred-Year History of Waseda University," Volume 3, lists a total of 15 ineligible persons: 7 from internal screening and 8 from external screening *6. However, Waseda has an aspect where it was not just the responsibility of individual faculty members that was questioned, unlike Keio.

On May 22, 1939, following the 15th anniversary of the promulgation of the Ordinance for the Assignment of Active-Duty Army Officers to Schools, the "Imperial Rescript to Youth and Students" was issued. This rescript stated that the "task of cultivating the foundation of the nation, nurturing national strength, and thereby maintaining the momentum of national prosperity for eternity" rested "on the shoulders of youth and students." During the war years, it was emphasized alongside the Imperial Rescript on Education *7. In response to this rescript, President Tanaka gathered all faculty and students at the athletic field on May 30 to hold a ceremony for the reading of the rescript, appealing to them to be model citizens who would lead the nation's development, ahead of youth nationwide. What should "students on the home front" be like, and how should they be nurtured? Waseda took the lead in working toward this goal, establishing the Student Training Department on October 14 of the following year, with President Tanaka himself assuming the role of director.

Prior to this, on September 14, President Tanaka gathered all faculty and staff at the Okuma Auditorium to express his convictions in a speech titled "An Appeal to the Faculty and Staff." Regarding why the Student Training Department was necessary, President Tanaka felt the following sense of crisis: Comparing the decline in the physical stature of conscripts shown in physical examination results with Europe and America, what Japanese education lacks most is physical education. The recovery of Germany and Italy is the result of focusing on physical education. France's defeat, as Marshal Pétain says, was the result of the French people becoming individualistic and hedonistic *8.

The Student Training Department, established based on this recognition, aimed at "training human resources who possess wisdom, virtue, and physical strength to be leaders of a great nation, by internalizing the steadfast spirit of supporting the Imperial fortune based on the fundamental principles of the national polity." Its principles were "Compliance with National Policy," "Physical Training," and "Group Training" *9. Under Director Tanaka, Vice Director Kenji Sugiyama and Vice Principal Takechiyo Imada, both professors of the Student Training Department, were responsible for its operation. Perhaps for this reason, it is said that while President Tanaka asked other departments within the university to be frugal, the Student Training Department was able to use its budget lavishly *10.

Based on the three principles, the Student Training Department implemented "Life Training" once a year at the Kurume Dojo for new students, and "Physical Training" ("Tairen") once a week at the Higashifushimi Dojo. "Life Training" aimed to nurture human resources to support the wartime system through "training" via a five-day, four-night training camp for faculty and students, while "Physical Training" did so through gymnastics and exercise *11.

How did students perceive this "training"? One student who entered the Second Higher School in 1943 criticized it severely shortly after the war, saying that "training" was a "fanatical militarist ideology" and that he had "no impression other than the chaotic and excessive use of war slogans like 'the eternal cause,' 'practicing the way of the subject,' or 'the devilish Americans and British,'" and that "now, only the intensity of that sleepiness is clearly remembered" *12.

On June 14, 1943, President Tanaka resigned as Director of the Training Department, and Professor Sugiyama succeeded him. President Tanaka passed away on August 22 of the following year. Subsequently, the Student Training Department's abolition was resolved at a Board of Directors meeting on April 27, 1945, due to the drastic decrease in the number of students caused by student mobilization and student labor mobilization, as well as the leasing of training facilities to the military *13.

After the war, Professor Sugiyama, who had been at the center of the Student Training Department, was found ineligible for teaching and was dismissed in December 1946 *14. Professor Imada resigned in March 1947 after his purge from teaching was unofficially decided *15. It can be said that the purge of these two professors from teaching questioned not only their wartime words and actions but also the de facto war responsibility for the Student Training Department, which Waseda University had pushed forward under the personal leadership of then-President Tanaka.

It was probably about ten years ago that I heard the "vocal will" of Taro Tsukamoto, one of Keio's fallen student soldiers, on the Keio Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies website, and I will never forget the shock. I had assumed that the wills of fallen student soldiers existed only in written form. However, I was told that a vocal "will" remained. That is Material 42-3 [Voice recorded on a record before student mobilization] (p. 77) under Keyword 42 [Remaining Sounds].

This was a recording Tsukamoto made at his father's company's recording facility upon his mobilization. In the first half, he speaks of memories and gratitude toward his family, saying, "The old days are nostalgic," but in the second half, the tone shifts completely as he speaks of his sense of mission to fight as a Japanese person, saying, "Strike down the enemy." Tsukamoto reportedly volunteered for a Kaiten suicide mission, which was originally not permitted for an eldest son, by attaching a letter written in blood. His request was granted, and he died in a suicide attack in the Ulithi sea area of the South Sea Islands in January 1945. Is there anything at Waseda equivalent to the "vocal will" of Keio's Tsukamoto?

At 8:00 a.m. on September 10, 1943, a send-off ceremony for those who had graduated early from the Waseda University Technical School and passed the examination for Navy Flight Reserve Students was held at Ueno Park, watched by current students, friends, and families. This 13th class of Navy Flight Reserve Students saw a flood of applicants, partly due to the advantageous condition of being given treatment equivalent to officers upon enlistment.

The evening edition of the Asahi Shimbun dated September 11 reported on the send-off ceremony for Waseda students gathered in front of the statue of Takamori Saigo in Ueno Park as follows:

"Representatives of each year pledged to 'follow our seniors, resolved to destroy the enemy,' or shouted, 'What are the students of America and Britain to us? We are behind you, and the eternal Japanese nation is behind us,' or pointed to a corner of the sky, saying, 'We will become the guardians of the Showa era and follow with attack after attack.' In response to this, the determination of the student pilot representative Hiroshi Yagi (20) was, 'Who will crush America and Britain? We will.' Soon a circle was formed, and they sang the school song while waving their school caps."

Professor Tachu Naito, Dean of the Waseda University Technical School, participated in this send-off ceremony and gave a farewell address. Naito is an architect known for designing the Tokyo Tower and the Nagoya TV Tower after the war. Various newspapers (evening editions dated September 11) reported Naito's words as follows:

○ Asahi Shimbun: "Do not be rash with youthful courage, do not neglect your body, and please take care of your health for the sake of the great purpose." ○ Yomiuri Shimbun: "I want you to keep in mind that death is lighter than a swan's feather, yet heavier than a thousand-pound weight." ○ Mainichi Shimbun: "They say death is lighter than a swan's feather, but your lives are heavier than a thousand-pound weight."

It is easy to guess that the "great purpose" Naito spoke of was to return alive and fulfill one's purpose in life. Furthermore, he sent a farewell address that seemed to deny the phrase "death is lighter than a swan's feather" taught in the "Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors," but there is no evidence that Naito was disciplined for this.

The scene of this Waseda send-off ceremony at Ueno Park was broadcast in "Nippon News" No. 171 and can be viewed today on the internet via the "NHK War Archives." It shows Waseda students, who were to trade their pens for control sticks, singing a death-defying rendition of "Miyako no Nishiki" (Northwest of the Capital).

One of those shown reading a response at the send-off ceremony was Yukio Okabe, who was active in the Waseda Sumo Club. Okabe entered the Tsuchiura Naval Air Corps and, on May 11, 1945, took off from Kanoya Air Base as the commander of the 5th Tsukuba Unit. He died in a suicide attack against the American destroyer Evans and the aircraft carrier Bunker Hill *16.

Material 36-1 [Collection of signatures and messages from members of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps Tsukuba Unit] (p. 66) was sent to his mother in his hometown by Hidenosuke Kurosaki of Keio, who died in a suicide attack two days after Okabe. Eighteen members of the Tsukuba Unit wrote their names and words on this collection, and Kurosaki and Okabe signed their names side by side. After the war, Kurosaki's mother gave this collection to a comrade who visited her, and that comrade reportedly entrusted it to Keio before he passed away. Of the 18 Tsukuba Unit members, including Kurosaki and Okabe, 17 actually died in suicide attacks. With what thoughts did these 18 people leave words like "Sacrificing one's life without regret," "Dive bombing," "Hope," "A dream of a lifetime," "A noble, happy, and sad life," and "A cheerful smile" on the collection?

[Addendum] On June 23, 2025, I was invited to the 10th lecture of the Keio University Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies course "Modern Japan and Keio University." I gave a talk titled "Waseda and the War — Through an Examination of the Fukuzawa Yukichi Memorial Keio History Museum's '2024 Spring Special Exhibition: Keio University and the War — From Objects to People'—" choosing six items from the keywords in this catalog. This article is a manuscript based on four of those keywords. I would like to thank Professor Takeyuki Tokura for inviting me to the lecture, the students for listening so intently, and the members of the Society for the Preservation of the Hiyoshidai Underground Shelters.

〈Notes〉