Commemorating the 75th Anniversary Ceremony of Keio Shiki Senior High School

2024/05/20

Image: "Kosaikan," completed as part of the 75th anniversary project

On Saturday, March 9, the 75th Anniversary Ceremony of Keio Shiki Senior High School was held in the hall of the school's new building, "Kosaikan." As the school marks 75 years since its founding, the ceremony was an occasion to once again express gratitude for the understanding and cooperation received from many quarters.

The history of Keio Shiki Senior High School (hereafter Shiki High) is introduced on the school website as follows:

"In September 1947, the land and buildings of the Toho Institute of Industrial Research were donated to Keio University by Yasuzaemon Matsunaga (1875-1971), a Keio University alumni who made the greatest contributions to Japan's electric power development. Based on the Keio University Junior College of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry, which moved to the Shiki area following this donation, Keio Agricultural Senior High School—the predecessor of our school—opened in May 1948. Subsequently, the school converted to a regular high school in April 1957 and was renamed Keio Shiki Senior High School. Today, it remains a full-time all-boys school offering a general course, where almost all graduates go on to Keio University upon recommendation by the principal."

The school's beginning was opened by the will of Yasuzaemon Matsunaga, and we have now reached the milestone of our 75th anniversary.

I believe we must not forget that during this time, this has been a place for high school students to live their lives. To date, 75 different cohorts of "Shiki High students" have been enrolled here, and 75 different versions of "Shiki High life" have been lived. This year marks my 30th year of service at Shiki High, meaning I have witnessed just under half of those 75 years. In a sense, I have been conducting a "fixed-point observation," and there is something I feel through that experience. It is that while each grade has its own "Shiki High-ness," the content is incredibly diverse and colorful; and yet, there is a certain "Shiki High-ness" that is common across all grades.

On the vast grounds of the campus, time still flows peacefully. The grounds are not just active during PE classes or club activities. There, for example, students stroll while composing haiku in Japanese class, choose their favorite spots to paint in art class, or clear fields and rice paddies as volunteers; this is how the students' time passes. The campus possesses a time and space that can only be described as otherworldly. And the students continue to live leisurely on this spacious campus as they always have. Their lives here, while quietly yet surely influencing their character, steadily accumulate on this land and are passed down to their juniors as "Shiki High-ness."

So, what is this "Shiki High-ness" that has been passed down continuously for 75 years? It may be something that each person involved with Shiki High must put into their own words, but if I were to put it into words, I believe the word "freedom" would undoubtedly be at the center.

A place where each individual's way of being and uniqueness are mutually respected, and where everyone can freely express their own way of being.

Perhaps it is something like this. Even when speaking with graduates from the early days of Shiki High, I get the same impression. I am proud to think that this atmosphere and school spirit are our treasure, and when considering Shiki High within the integrated education system, a treasure of Keio University.

As the eras transitioned from the post-war period of confusion through Showa, Heisei, and Reiwa, we reached our 75th year without losing our "Shiki High-ness" despite the waves of each era. I am once again happy and grateful that we were able to hold a ceremony to celebrate this.

The day of the ceremony was blessed with cloudless blue skies. Following a performance of the Juku-ka by the Keio Shiki Senior High School Wagner Society Male Choir and an address by Principal Miki Takahashi, we received congratulatory remarks from President Kohei Itoh and Takahiko Sakagami, Chairman of the Shiki-kai. Furthermore, I (Morioka) reported on the background of the completion of the "Kosaikan" anniversary project, and the ceremony concluded with the introduction and screening of a "75th Anniversary Video" created by the Student Council, presented by Student Council President Tenseki Ka.

On the occasion of our 75th anniversary, our school reflected on its education to date and established the future direction for Shiki High as "Education of 'Science and Independence' promoted through diverse 'Social Intercourse'." The term "science" (suuri), which has its source in "The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi," is intended to be distinguished from "jitsugaku (science)" which can sometimes be misunderstood as a shallow, instrumental concept. We have received the understanding of many people regarding this philosophy of Shiki High.

In the midst of difficult circumstances—recession, a weak yen, war, natural disasters—I cannot thank those who contributed to the fundraising, centered around the Shiki-kai, enough. It was also a great joy to be able to hold this 75th anniversary ceremony in the Kosaikan Hall, which was built through such goodwill.

At the entrance of Kosaikan, a mural by graduate Enrico Isamu Oyama welcomes visitors. His work transcends the frame of the canvas, spreading directly onto the interior walls and even to the exterior walls of the building. This momentum of attempting to cross various conventional concepts and borders seems to me to be an overlap of the past and future of Shiki High School.

We received this Kosaikan along with that goodwill. What kind of education will be conducted using this space? Next, it will be up to us to demonstrate that through our educational practice. This ceremony was a place to feel that sentiment anew and to reconfirm the weight of that responsibility.

As we set sail into a new era, I would be grateful if you could warmly watch over Keio Shiki Senior High School to see what kind of school it becomes over the next 100 or 150 years, while continuing to cherish its "Shiki High-ness."

On this occasion of reaching a major milestone, I submit this report with gratitude.