Hiyoshi in the 1960s

2021/02/24

Image: The former Third Building and the purchasing department, which used semi-cylindrical "kamaboko" barracks on the low ground. From the back, Tanimoto Shoe Store and Playguide. (Photographed in the 1960s)

The former Third Building seen from the front. Completed in September 1953, designed by Yoshiro Taniguchi. It contained large and small classrooms. In 1962, the small classrooms were opened to student organizations and began to be used as club rooms. It was demolished in 1988. (Photographed around 1975)

The last wooden school buildings on Hiyoshi Campus (left is Classroom 80, right are Classrooms 81, 82, and 83). These were Classrooms 91 and 92, originally built on the north side of the Fourth Building in 1949 and relocated in 1961. They were demolished in March 1993 for the construction of the current Third Building. (Photographed around 1980)

When I think of Hiyoshi Campus, there is a landscape that always comes back to me. It is the row of ginkgo trees stretching straight from the front of the station to the Memorial Hall, and the two "kamaboko" school buildings on the left—the low-rise Hiyoshi Administration Office and the Office of Student Services. Today, the library stands on that site. The area where the Niko Cafeteria and Green House once stood has been replaced by an imposing building called "Raiosha." During my student days, the Fourth Building was the largest structure, housing large and small classrooms, as well as the Academic Affairs Section and faculty offices. This area was the range of our student activities; occasionally, during breaks between classes, we would walk down the steep slope of Mamushi-dani and spend time watching tennis practice. Unlike the general impression one might have of athletic clubs, the players who finished their practice were polite and well-mannered, which surprised me and made me feel the atmosphere of the school. However, this quiet atmosphere was disturbed by a series of political incidents from 1960 onwards.

There were movements to block the revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. From the University of Tokyo struggles to the occupation of Yasuda Auditorium. Then, in 1969, demonstrations attempted to block Prime Minister Eisaku Sato's departure for negotiations on the return of Okinawa. In 1970, there were also movements to force the rejection of the "automatic extension" of the Security Treaty. Political issues occurred one after another in just ten years. This turmoil, combined with the radical actions of the Zenkyoto (All-Campus Joint Struggle League) and the New Left, spread to universities across the country. The demonstrations during Prime Minister Eisaku Sato's visit to the U.S. in November 1969 were particularly intense, and at Hiyoshi, fierce zigzag demonstrations were repeated under the ginkgo trees. It was at this time that I saw Michiyoshi Oshima of the Faculty of Economics at the front of the demonstration. He likely felt he wanted to protect the students from the violence between different sects. At the time, it required considerable courage. However, the movement of activists peaked around this time, and regarding the "automatic extension" of the 1970 Security Treaty, the extension was decided smoothly despite large-scale demonstrations. The radical student movement had already lost the support of society.

Last December, I visited Hiyoshi for the first time in a long while. It was a cloudy day, but the ginkgo leaves shone bright yellow in the sunlight that occasionally peeked through. The sight of women picking up ginkgo nuts was the same as in the old days, and I returned home having enjoyed the quiet atmosphere of Hiyoshi for the first time in a long while.

(Junichi Kuroiwa, Professor Emeritus, Keio University)

*Affiliations and job titles are those at the time of publication.