Outdoor Entrance Ceremony on the Mita Hilltop Square

These two photographs were taken by Professor George S. Bonn (1913–2003), a visiting professor from the New York Public Library who was assigned to the Department of Library Science in the Faculty of Letters (at the time) from the 1954 academic year to the 1955 academic year. While the exact dates of when Professor Bonn arrived in Japan and when he returned home are unknown, these photos were likely taken at the entrance ceremony held on April 11, 1955.

Looking at the photo above, you can see students lined up facing the First School Building and the Ginkgo Tree in the Quad. The white two-story building on the left is the Third Research Building, and behind it, the brick Auditorium can be seen. The Auditorium was built in 1915, and unicorn statues were installed on the third-floor balcony during repairs following the Great Kanto Earthquake. It was destroyed by fire in the 1945 air raids and demolished in 1957. In the other photo, the Third Research Building and a glimpse of the Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall) among the trees behind it are visible. The Third Research Building was designed by Yoshiro Taniguchi and completed in 1952.

There were 2,578 enrollees that year. While the presence of female students can be confirmed in the photographs, there are no records of exactly how many there were. However, since records show that 76 of the 1,967 graduates from the previous year were women, it is likely that there were just under a hundred female enrollees.

Professor Bonn, who took these photos, returned to work at the New York Public Library, but later taught at the library schools of the University of Hawaii and the University of Delhi in India, showing his international involvement in library and information science education. He visited Japan several times thereafter and maintained a high interest in Japanese culture, collecting ukiyo-e prints from the late Edo and Meiji periods. His collection was donated to the Keio University Media Center and can be viewed online.

The 2020 entrance ceremony has been postponed due to the impact of the new coronavirus. It is considered difficult to hold the ceremony in its traditional format. These photos of the entrance ceremony in the Mita Quad from an era when resources were likely still scarce after the war strengthen the feeling that we must seek new ways to celebrate the enrollment of our students.