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50 Years of Juku: A half century spent connecting Keio with students and parents

Update:Jan.14,2014

Juku celebrates its 50th year of publication in 2013. Now in its 280th issue, Juku looks back at the heart of its original mission: to foster a deeper understanding of Keio among students' parents and guardians.

The First Issue: Keio's determination and expectations for parents

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The inscription used for Juku's title since No. 70 is the Chinese character for "Juku" (塾), handwritten by Yukichi Fukuzawa himself.

In April 1963, Keio University began a new official publication called "Juku." Yasaburo Ikeda, Vice-President and Professor at the Faculty of Letters, outlined the purpose of the publication in the preface to the first volume stating, "I hope that [through this publication] guardians will come to better know and understand the university where their children study." Behind Prof. Ikeda's desire were the tides of the time—mounting student activism and a booming postwar student population.

The wave of the 1960s' student movements across university campuses had become a mutual topic of concern among all parents whose children were at university. Moreover, Japan's drastic post-war economic growth contributed to a sudden increase in population, in turn causing a surge in student enrollment at Keio. Enrollment went from around 2,500 students in 1955 to 4,000 two years later, in 1957, the year that the Faculty of Business and Commerce was established. In 1963, the inaugural year of Juku, that number had ballooned to 5,600. According to Prof. Ikeda, diversity accompanied this increase, and with diversity came wide variations in parental interest and understanding of the university. It was at this time that Keio realized the need to directly convey its educational philosophies and approaches to students and their families. The manifestation of this realization was Juku, a publication strongly aware of its student guardian audience in tone and content.

In the "Parent's Chair" advice column, Keio University faculty and staff members would answer questions about university life sent in by a student guardian. Juku also served as a bridge between faculty members and student guardians in other corners such as "Message to Parents" and "Recommended Reading for Parents." Meanwhile, parents and guardians themselves contributed in a variety of features like the opinion column "Parents' Voices" or the "Parent's Discussions" held by different prefectures. One of the more unique features was an open letter between students and parents.

Juku received a complete makeover in 1995, when it slimmed down to B5-size paper. Previously only available in black and white, Juku was now printed in color and made the bold addition of photographs to its pages, making the publication much more engaging. Juku underwent a drastic structural transformation in which editing was carried out under the motto "Fun to see, interesting to read" in order to engage not only parents but also students at each level of Keio education.

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Keio artists inspire the face of Juku

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Left: Front cover of Juku's first issue
Right: Juku No. 24 (Block print: Tetsuro Komai)

Throughout its 50-year history, the face of Juku has been its front cover. We can divide the history of Juku's front cover into five distinct periods.

The initial front cover was minimalist: a single, solid color with the character for "Juku" in the upper, left-hand corner. The characters for "Keio Gijuku" and the issue number took their positions at the bottom of the page.

From 1967, the front cover was adorned with the works of block artist and Keio alumnus Tetsuro Komai (1920-1976), who became enamored with copper engraving as a junior high school student at Keio Futsubu School. Komai is well known for his many works of abstract art, but he also drew lush mountain streams and other scenes true to nature.

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No. 212 (Front cover: Taiji Kiyokawa)

Oil painter Taiji Kiyokawa (1919-2000), a graduate of Keio's Faculty of Economics, began designing the front cover in 1975. His front covers were drawn especially for Juku each time in a style which is often described as nonobjective art. Many of his works, which he personally donated to Keio, are on display at Hiyoshi Campus and SFC. He reflected in later years that he tried earnestly to present dramatically different works each issue while retaining the distinct spirit of Keio University. His charge extended over a remarkable 26 years and 158 issues.

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Left: No. 245 (Front cover: Seiji Fujishiro)
Right: No. 274

In 2001, Seiji Fujishiro (1924- ) inherited the job of drawing Juku's front cover. Seiji Fujishiro has become Japan's leading artist of shadow pictures, capturing the hearts of numerous fans with his fantastical works. But readers can see his realistic sketches cut straight from Keio's campuses on the front covers he has drawn for Juku.

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Hisa's first illustration to be published in Juku
(No. 5 issued in May 1964)
"We found a Keio student!" (Keio students also involved in student demonstrations)
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Currently Hisa draws works for each installment of the Banraisha corner

Finally, the fifth period began in 2005 with photographs around Keio's campuses throughout the four seasons.

As readers turn the pages of Juku, they find the works of photographers like Jun Miki (Keio alumnus, 1919-1992) and Toji Kuroda (honorary Keio alumnus, 1936-2000) and the illustrations of cartoonist Kunihiko Hisa (1944- ), who has continually provided illustrations for Juku since its second year, when he was just a third-year student in the Faculty of Law. After spotting a summons addressed to him on a campus bulletin board one day, Hisa popped in to see why. Apparently his work had been chosen in a student cartoon contest held by a newspaper company, and news of his achievement had reached the university—along with a cash prize. This accomplishment became an opportunity to begin providing illustrations for Juku. We hope to see many more of illustrations from Hisa, a living witness of Juku's long history, well into the future.

*This article appeared in the 2013 autumn edition (No.280) of “Juku”.
*The facts are those at the time of publishing.