North Building

2016/02/01

The North Building, a structure with three floors above ground and two below located on the northeast side of the campus, was completed in March 1994. The building, then called the Kita-shinkan (New North Building), was the first new building on the Mita Campus in a long time. For this construction project, the Student Hall (Yamashoku), the single-story wooden Health Center across the path, the two-story Office of Correspondence Courses, and the psychology animal laboratory behind it were demolished in the fall of 1991. The North Building was constructed on this site, which included the space formerly occupied by a half-size tennis court behind the Research Building.

The building housed facilities that had been eagerly awaited at Mita, including the North Building Hall with 240 seats, simultaneous interpretation units for three languages, a 100-inch projector, and a grand piano; conference rooms capable of hosting international meetings; the Faculty Club (a dining hall for faculty and staff) operated by the Palace Hotel; and a student cafeteria. In addition, with offices such as the Office of Communications and Public Relations, the Office of External Relations, and the Office of Correspondence Courses moving in, the scenery of the Mita Campus seemed to have changed dramatically. A major reason for this was the change in the flow of traffic toward the Italian Embassy on the north side, but there was another. With the demolition of the historic Student Hall, which had been relocated during the construction of the West School Building, the Second Research Building became the only remaining building designed by Yoshiro Taniguchi that had shaped the postwar image of Mita.

The disappearance of smaller wooden buildings like the Health Center also contributed to the feeling that the campus's appearance had changed. An issue of the Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press) at the time described it as "the whole building has a slightly upscale image." In June of the same year, the Art Center hosted "A Collaboration on Poetry" by Gozo Yoshimasu and Nobuyoshi Araki as an event to commemorate the opening.

Outside the windows of the Faculty Club, the trees in the garden of the Italian Embassy are a pleasant sight. The club is bustling with faculty and staff at lunchtime, and in the evenings, standing buffet parties for Mita-kai and other groups are frequently held. The convenience of the building was also enhanced by using the hall, conference rooms, and Faculty Club as a venue for symposiums, with spaces for waiting rooms and receptions. The foyer is equipped with a picture rail, making exhibitions possible and allowing for even more substantial events to be held. A Health Center is located next to the entrance, where long lines form during the season for health check-ups.

The "shin" (new) was dropped from the name "Kita-shinkan" in 2000. It was decided to stop using "shin," just as the New Research Building came to be called the Research Building. I recall this was in conjunction with the construction of the East Building. Today, there are no buildings at the Juku with "shin" in their names. Incidentally, although I wrote that it has three floors above ground, at the time of its construction, the floor adjacent to the North Gate was designated as the first floor, and it was referred to as a four-story building.

(Atsuko Ishiguro, Office of Communications and Public Relations)