1960: West German Chancellor Adenauer's Visit to the Juku

2020/07/29

On April 1, 1960 (Showa 35), West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who played a major role in the reconstruction of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) devastated by World War II, visited the Juku. This was the final day of his first and last visit to Japan as a state guest, which began on the 25th of the previous month. Although his stay in Mita was only 45 minutes, he managed a busy schedule, including the conferral of an honorary doctorate at the Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall) and a tea ceremony reception in the Noguchi Room (hosted by the Tea Ceremony Club). (For details, see "Foreign Visitors to the Juku," Part 13, in the February 2017 issue of this magazine.)

The Main Gate (South Gate), through which Adenauer's party entered and exited by car, was established on May 6, 1959 (Showa 34), following the completion of the South School Building. A large crowd of the general public gathered beyond the Chancellor's car as it was seen off to the Keio University Cheerleading Team's performance of "Wakaki-chi." Together with the crowds within Keio, this illustrates the high level of attention this visit received. The beautiful elliptical front garden in front of the brand-new South School Building, which served as a carriage porch, gives a sense of freshness.

On the platform of the Mita Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall), in the presence of Juku officials including President Fukutarō Okui, Chairman of the Board of Councillors Shinzo Koizumi, Dean of the Faculty of Letters Nobuhiro Matsumoto, and Vice-President Shigeharu Ishimaru, as well as German Ambassador to Japan Wilhelm Haas, the Chancellor spoke for about 15 minutes on the importance of cooperation between Japan and Germany. (A Japanese translation of the speech was published in issue No. 588 [1960] of this magazine.)

The standing portrait of Yukichi Fukuzawa in a public speaking pose (painted by Kikumaro Matsumura), which is still displayed in the Mita Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall) today, was donated by the Kobe Keio Club on the occasion of Chancellor Adenauer's visit. The original version of this painting was by Eisaku Wada and was located in the Great Auditorium at Mita before the war, but it was destroyed in the war. Matsumura, a student of Wada, painted a copy of it, which had been displayed in the rooms of the Kobe Keio Club (see Kinichi Matsuzaki, "Yukichi Fukuzawa as a Narrator," Keio University Press).

Chancellor Adenauer visited the Juku during a period of transformation, following the centennial of its founding in 1958 (Showa 33), when new buildings were being constructed one after another. He is captured here in a scene befitting the post-war development of the Juku.

(Editorial Department)