Girls' High School in the 1950s and 60s

2021/07/29

Image: Faculty room in Building 1 (photographed in 1962)

Building 1, which used the former Tokugawa residence (demolished in 1973). In the background, the cafeteria and cooking room completed in 1962 can be seen.

The main gate in 1955. On the left is the gate of the former Tokugawa residence, and in the background, Building 4, a classroom wing designed by Yoshiro Taniguchi and completed in 1952, is visible.

The gate of the former Tokugawa residence, which still remains today. A Japanese garden spreads out behind it. A walkway leading from the main gate to the second floor of the main building is built above the gate.

During my time as a student from 1961 to 1963, Keio Girls Senior High School had two new school buildings built around 1951 and 1952, but we also used the buildings of the former residence of Count Satotaka Tokugawa. The renovated wooden building with a tiled roof was used as Building 1, housing the faculty room, administrative offices, and special classrooms such as the music room, and the library building was next to it. The site of the girls' high school was purchased by the Juku from Count Tokugawa before the war. The gate that still remains on the premises today is said to have been used for the garden of the former Count Tokugawa residence, and a thirteen-story stone pagoda and the garden also remain. At that time, there were only three classes, and we were able to study in a cozy, home-like environment. Later, the old buildings were cleared away, and in 1974, they were replaced by the current concrete school buildings.

Although Keio University is co-educational except for the high school, female students were always a minority back then. To put it nicely, we were treated like guests and cherished by the boys. However, for me, having come up through the integrated school system from the lower levels, the girls' high school was a place where we could be ourselves among women, and I think it was the most enjoyable time of my student life. We used to be mischievous, like everyone turning around at the same time during class or everyone coming to school with ribbons in their hair on a designated day. Even though it was a separate school, it was part of the integrated system, so we had deep ties with Hiyoshi High School (Juku-ko), and I often went to Hiyoshi for club activities. Also, though I heard it was only for a few years around the time we attended, co-hosting the Hiyoshi Festival with Hiyoshi High School is a fond memory of my youth. At that time, the current October Festival (Kanna-sai) did not exist. It seems they still do the pole-toppling (bo-taoshi) at the athletic meet, but that started in our era. I think it is very characteristic of the girls' high school.

In those days, general girls' high school uniforms were typically navy blue, but at the girls' high school, they changed to gray suits in 1959, just before we entered. The overcoats also became black and white tweed, which was groundbreaking, and I felt very proud of it. A new cafeteria was completed while I was a student, and we all gathered there after school to eat and chat. A sharp-tongued teacher, Mr. S, used to say, "This is the Mita pig farm," but I wonder how it is now.

In 2003, my classmate Junko Umeoka was appointed principal, becoming the first female principal to have graduated from the school.

(Hiromi Tanaka, 1967 Economics)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time this magazine was published.