War on Campus: Keio Hiyoshi 1934–1949

2023/05/26

For the cover of this book, we used a snapshot taken by photographer Hideo Haga during his time at the Keio Preparatory School. It is one of the photos from the March 1942 graduation album. I believe the theme of this book is perhaps encapsulated in this photograph. The campus courtyard filled with light, the Second Building shining white in the sun, and in contrast, the darkness inside the First Building—what are the two people with their backs turned talking about? Youth being tossed about by the era of war was also the light and shadow of this campus.

In Hiyoshi, there is a complex of former Imperial Japanese Navy underground military facilities spanning a total length of five kilometers. I serve as a tour guide for the Association for the Preservation of the Hiyoshidai Tunnels. Currently, the only one accessible is the Combined Fleet Headquarters Tunnel. In a space 30 meters underground, covered by 40-centimeter-thick concrete, operations for the end of the war, symbolized by "tokko" (suicide attacks), were planned and orders were issued. No matter how many times I step inside, a sense of unease remains, as it feels irreconcilable with my daily life. The inside of the bunker is pitch black, and the gap between it and the bright campus space—not to mention the fact that a war was certainly being waged here—is something my senses above ground cannot keep up with. The same applies to the First Building (Keio Senior High School) where I stand at the podium; students of the former preparatory school once studied here, were sent to the battlefield through student mobilization, the Third Department of the Navy General Staff moved in, and after the defeat, the US military arrived.

I wanted to trace the memories of this place where I am. Ten years have passed since I began with that thought, and fortunately, I was able to compile it into a book. During this time, I met with war survivors related to Hiyoshi and heard their precious stories, but many have since passed away. I feel that we must pass on the stories of the war that took place here to the younger generation.

Second Lieutenant Ryoji Uehara of the Army, who studied at Keio, wrote his final thoughts in an essay titled "Personal Reflections" on the night before his suicide mission. I want to cherish the term "liberalist" written there. The 15 years on campus examined in this book were a time when "freedom" was rapidly being lost. The underground tunnels still sleep quietly in the darkness. They do not assert their existence unless light is shed upon them. When I place myself in the inorganic space of the underground operations room, I also think that it might be the distorted culmination of modernization policies since the Meiji era.

War on Campus: Keio Hiyoshi 1934–1949

Takeshi Akuzawa

Keio University Press

288 pages, 2,970 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.