The Statue of Fukuzawa at Mita

2017/02/02

The Old University Library on the Mita Campus has begun preparations for renovation work to address seismic retrofitting and the deterioration of its interior and exterior. This January, the bust of Yukichi Fukuzawa located next to the main entrance was also removed. During the construction period, it will be relocated in front of the Mita Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall).

This "Fukuzawa statue" first appeared on the Mita Campus on January 10, 1954, on Yukichi Fukuzawa's 120th birthday. It was not placed in front of the library, but rather in the front garden of the Mita Dai-ichi Kenkyushitsu (First Research Building), which stood where the current Laboratory Building is located, and was installed at the selection of architect Yoshiro Taniguchi.

The creator of the bust (a bronze statue) was Kaseki Shibata (real name Fukushiro), a graduate of the Keio Futsubu School. He studied sculpture under Seibo Kitamura, known as the creator of the "Nagasaki Peace Statue," and became a founding member of the Japan Ceramic Sculpture Society in 1951. He also created busts of figures associated with Keio, such as Momosuke Fukuzawa, as well as the "Statue of Taisuke Itagaki" in Gifu Park.

Fifty years after Yukichi Fukuzawa's death, as fewer people remained who knew what he looked like, a movement arose to place a statue on Mita Hilltop Square. When funds were solicited, donations reportedly poured in immediately. In his speech at the unveiling ceremony, Sei'ichiro Takahashi, a member of the statue construction committee, stated, "Today, when the portrait of Fukuzawa painted by Eisaku Wada, which once hung at the front of the stage in the Mita Public Hall, looking down on the audience, has been lost to the fires of war, [...] we thought it would be meaningful to build this [bronze statue] in a suitable location within Keio and allow the students to look up to it daily." The inscription on the back of the bust reads, "Independence and self-respect, 1953, respectfully made by Kaseki."

This bust was removed in 1967 for the reconstruction of the Laboratory Building. Afterward, due in part to the turmoil of student movements, it was stored in a Keio warehouse for a long time. However, in September 1983, on the occasion of the establishment of the Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies, it was decided to relocate it to the left of the main entrance of the Old University Library.

In fact, this bust was made from the same clay model as the Fukuzawa statue installed inside the Kojunsha building one year before its appearance at Mita. With advice from Yukichi Fukuzawa's fourth daughter, Taki Shidachi, his fourth son, Daishiro, and Rakuten Kitazawa, known for his satirical cartoons in the "Jiji Shinpo," Shibata spent over a year completing the statue for the Kojunsha. The result was magnificent and well-received, and there was a strong desire to see the statue in outdoor light. Consequently, another one was created from the original mold and installed at Mita the following year.

Currently, Keio has several other statues: a seated statue of Yukichi Fukuzawa by Ujihiro Okuma at the main entrance of Keio Shiki Senior High School; a bust by Kaseki Murasakibaru in the entrance lobby of the Central Building at the University Hospital on the Shinanomachi Campus; a bust by Tsuneto Yamana in front of the library on the Hiyoshi Campus; a bust by Tsuneto Yamana next to the Media Center on the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC); and a relief bust by Shin Hongo in the lobby of the Jisonkan (Auditorium of Keio Yochisha Elementary School).

For the time being, the Mita bust will watch over the Keio students from Inariyama. (The Editors)