Traces of Shibasaburo Kitasato on the Shinanomachi Campus

2021/10/29

Image: Portraits of Fukuzawa and Kitasato in the 1st floor lounge of the Integrated Medical Research Building

Shinanomachi Campus was established in 1917 with the founding of the Keio University college Department of Medicine, making it the second campus after Mita Campus (the school and hospital opened in 1920).

The first Dean (it became a School of Medicine in 1920) was Shibasaburo Kitasato, who also served as the first Hospital Director. He served as the Dean of the School of Medicine for 10 years from 1917 to 1928 and passed away in 1931 at the age of 78.

When Shibasaburo Kitasato accepted the position of Department Chair for the establishment of the Department of Medicine, he was already a world-renowned figure. He had his own Kitasato Research Centers and Institutes and, as the first president of the Japan Medical Association at the time, accepted the role of Department Chair despite his busy schedule. Yukichi Fukuzawa had already passed away, and although Shibasaburo Kitasato was not a student of Fukuzawa, he considered Fukuzawa a benefactor due to their connection and expressed his determination to devote himself to establishing the Department of Medicine to repay that debt. Kitasato assembled a faculty of top-tier individuals in Japan at the time, and his contributions to the development of the Keio University School of Medicine were immense.

When tracing the footsteps of Shibasaburo Kitasato on the Shinanomachi Campus, the most representative landmark is the Kitasato Memorial Medical Library. In 1934, three years after Kitasato's death, the "Medical Library Construction Committee" was formed and began fundraising, with construction completed in 1937. The construction committee (chaired by Tatsuo Yamamoto) led the project through to the building's completion and donated it to the Juku in 1944. Regarding the building's name, a memorandum with the construction committee states, "The name 'Dr. Kitasato Memorial Medical Library' shall be preserved forever."

The Kitasato Memorial Medical Library is still in use today as a library. It has one basement floor and two floors above ground, with a four-story stack room on the left side when facing the front, housing 430,000 volumes. On the second floor, there is a small auditorium (Kitasato Auditorium) used for many ceremonies. A bust of Shibasaburo Kitasato (by Saburo Yoshida) stands at the main entrance, also donated by the construction committee. In the first conference room on the second floor, 23 portraits and photographs of successive Deans of the School of Medicine are displayed, and in front of them, a portrait of Shibasaburo Kitasato (by Ichiyo Uno) is displayed alongside Yukichi Fukuzawa.

Due to war damage in 1945, 60% of the facilities on the Shinanomachi Campus were destroyed. Currently, only two buildings remain from before the war: this library and the Building for Preventive Medicine and Public Health, meaning there are very few buildings that convey the pre-war era. The Kitasato Memorial Medical Library is a precious building that conveys history from before the war.

Additionally, in the 1st floor lounge of the Integrated Medical Research Building, there are portraits of Yukichi Fukuzawa and Shibasaburo Kitasato printed on ceramic plates. These were donated as a commemorative gift for the building's completion in 2001. The two are sitting facing each other, appearing as if they are chatting, speaking to the people in the lounge, or watching over us.

(Hiroshi Watanabe, Office of Facilities and Property Management)