Tracing Memories of Maboroshi no Mon

2021/12/22

Image: October 1998

Until the current main gate was built on the south side of the campus to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding, "Maboroshi no Mon" was long cherished as the main gate of Keio University. Its origins date back to 1913. Created by remodeling the wooden gate of the former Shimabara Domain's middle residence, this gate featured four granite gateposts on the left and right and was fitted with iron gates. It is also celebrated in the fight song "Maboroshi no Mon" (lyrics by Daigaku Horiguchi, music by Kosaku Yamada) with the line, "Passing through Maboroshi no Mon, we stand upon the Hill of Wisdom." Along with the view of the library looking up from the gate, it became a landscape of Mita etched into the minds of Keio students. Later, due to the wartime Metal Collection Order, the iron gates were requisitioned and replaced with wooden ones. However, as corrosion became noticeable, they were replaced with aluminum gates in November 1981. Many likely remember the beautiful gates designed with reference to pre-war photographs and the design of the library entrance. In 2000, with the completion of the East Building and the new design of the East Gate, the gates of Maboroshi no Mon were removed, and the stone pillars and hitching stones were relocated halfway up the slope on the left. The upper part of the gate has been repurposed as the door for the mechanical room on the wall of the pedestrian bridge from the East Building, allowing us to recall those bygone days.

(Text/Composition: Atsuko Ishiguro)

Nehru, the first Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of India, visited the Juku and was awarded the fourth honorary doctorate in the history of the university. The Indian national flag was flown alongside the Japanese flag at Maboroshi no Mon.