Those Days, That Time: Postwar Keio University Revived in 4K

  Keio University began as a school for Dutch studies opened by Yukichi Fukuzawa in Tsukiji Teppozu in 1858 (Ansei 5), and will celebrate its 167th anniversary in 2025. Born during the turbulent Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration periods, the school has inherited "The Mission of Keio University" entrusted by Fukuzawa to his students, and continues to develop while looking toward the future in the current Reiwa era.  

In preparation for the 175th anniversary in 2033, the Office of Communications and Public Relations is proceeding with the digital archiving of promotional images and videos. Some of the footage has been digitized in 4K, and starting this spring, the "Those Days, That Time: Keio University Revived in Video" series has been released on the Keio University official YouTube channel.

This series is both a documentary record of postwar Keio University and a living history that conveys the passion and spirit of the Keio students and faculty who lived through those times. We would like to introduce the highlights of the series currently available.

The title "VIRIBUS UNITIS" is Latin for "joining forces." It was originally a phrase carved into a stone monument donated by the 1909 (Meiji 42) graduates of the Keio Futsubu School. The Keio University alumni who donated it likely never imagined the hardships the school would face just 40 years later. Keio University's campuses suffered the most extensive air raid damage among all universities in Japan during the Pacific War, but the thoughts of our predecessors became a keyword supporting postwar reconstruction. Please watch as the school takes powerful steps toward reconstruction from its lost daily life, based on the spirit passed down from Fukuzawa's time that the light of academic research must never be extinguished, no matter the circumstances.

At the Shinanomachi Campus, home to the School of Medicine and University Hospital, 60% of the facilities were destroyed by fire in an air raid in the early hours of May 24, 1945. Undeterred by the disaster, footage remains of Professor Genichi Kato instructing medical students in a basic medical sciences lecture held shortly after the war at the Musashino Branch School. Professor Kato was a world-renowned researcher said to have been a Nobel Prize candidate for his research on nerve conduction in frogs. Professor Kato and his students are also known for establishing the Gamazuka (Toad Mound) at Sasadera Temple near the Shinanomachi Campus to offer prayers for the frogs that supported their experiments.

In 1947, Keio Chutobu Junior High School was established as a junior high school under the new postwar system. It welcomed the first female students in a Keio junior high school and became a pioneer of coeducation nationwide. In the film, one can see male and female students actively exchanging opinions in the same classroom.

The ending shows the scene of an entrance ceremony in the courtyard. Female students can be seen, symbolizing the postwar era, but why is it being held outdoors? In fact, this footage signifies the destruction of the Public Hall. The Public Hall was located where the West School Building stands today and was a symbolic Gothic-style, steel-framed brick building on the Mita Campus. It was a famous hall where Dr. Einstein gave a lecture in 1922, but it suffered immense damage in the 1945 air raid, and the school lost its hall for ceremonies. The unicorn gargoyle, looking down at the ceremony in the courtyard from the roof of the ruined Public Hall, still maintains its presence.

The film begins with the 90th anniversary commemorative ceremony held on a clear day at Mita Hilltop Square on May 24, 1947. Why the 90th anniversary instead of the 100th? Here, too, lies the shadow of the war. Due to the destruction of the Mita and Shinanomachi campuses by air raids and the requisition of the Hiyoshi Campus by the US military, the postwar school was in a disastrous state. While full-scale reconstruction was expected to take considerable time, the decision was made to hold a grand ceremony to build momentum for the school's reconstruction, with the goal of the 100th anniversary ten years later. The 90th Anniversary Festival, which staked the prestige of the school, was held over ten days. The film contains the ceremony, an exhibition by Keio students, and a musical parade, concluding with the Waseda-Keio Regatta and the Waseda-Keio rivalry in baseball.

Valuable footage remains, including a powerful address by President Kōji Ushioda, who strongly pushed for reconstruction; a congratulatory speech by Yukio Ozaki, known as the "God of Constitutional Politics," who took the podium as a representative of Keio University alumni; and even words from His Majesty the Emperor (Emperor Showa). In his address, President Ushioda spoke about how Keio University, since its founding, has practiced the spirit of independence and self-respect as a private institution and has continued its efforts to spread that spirit to the world. His Majesty the Emperor remarked, "I believe there are many difficulties, but I hope you will make further efforts for the reconstruction of Japan, keeping the founding spirit of Yukichi Fukuzawa in your hearts." The hardships of the era can be felt from the fact that, while receiving the first imperial visit to a private school, there was no building to hold the ceremony, and it was held with a tented platform set up in a square amidst the ruins.

Against the backdrop of the Matsuya Asakusa store as it looked at the time, the regatta glides gallantly across the water from Azumabashi to Shirahigebashi. The Waseda-Keio rivalry in baseball, where "Wakaki-chi" boils, was held at Korakuen Stadium because the Meiji Jingu Stadium had been requisitioned by the US military. In the overcrowded stadium, the enthusiasm was such that some could be seen climbing pillars to watch. That year, the Keio baseball team won a brilliant victory in the championship match against Waseda University and was awarded the Emperor's Cup.

This is a promotional film narrated with a refreshing sense of friendliness by actor Yuzo Kayama (graduate of the Department of Politics, Faculty of Law), also known as "Young Guy." It begins with a peaceful scene of the Mita Campus courtyard in spring where Keio students gather, and depicts student life throughout the four seasons, including classes, extracurricular activities, school festivals, and entrance examinations. Interspersed with scenes of student life are videos of the Keio Rengo Mita-Kai, a gathering for graduates and families, the Yukichi Fukuzawa Birthday Commemoration, visits to his grave on the anniversary of his death, and the Waseda-Keio rivalry in baseball, conveying that these are important traditional events for the school.

The film was produced in 1974. Just a few years earlier, in the late 1960s, a storm of campus conflicts raged at universities across the country, and some Keio students were also involved in the conflicts. At one point, the building known as the Jukukan-kyoku (Keio Corporate Administration), which houses the administrative headquarters, was occupied by radical students, but Keio is said to be the only university in Japan that ended the conflict without the introduction of police forces. The sight of Keio students freely engaging in academics, extracurricular activities, and traditional events shown throughout the film is impressive, but you may watch it with deeper emotion if you reflect on the fact that these are scenes from an era when the greatest turmoil in the university's history was still fresh in memory.

The correspondence education courses at Keio University began in 1948, and Japan's first schooling sessions were held that summer. The athletic meet was once a regular event during those summer schooling sessions. As Kayama's narration says, "It might be called Keio University's National Athletic Meet," the exceptionally bright expressions of Keio students of different ages and backgrounds, holding placards of the prefectures where they live across the country, are impressive.

On February 3, the anniversary of Yukichi Fukuzawa's death, many people associated with the school visit the grave where Fukuzawa rests with his wife, Kin, to pay their respects. While the grave is currently located at Azabusan Zenpukuji Temple in Minato City, it was at Jokoji Temple in Kamiosaki, Shinagawa City until 1977. This film contains valuable footage of a grave visit when it was still at Jokoji Temple. The grave site in Kamiosaki was a place Fukuzawa himself liked and chose during his lifetime, but in May 1977, it was moved to Zenpukuji, the Fukuzawa family's temple. A monument inscribed with "The Place Where Yukichi Fukuzawa Rests in Peace" now stands at Jokoji Temple.

The 125th anniversary commemorative ceremony was held on May 15, 1983, at the Hiyoshi Campus. With this single film, you can look back on the 125-year history and tradition of Keio University, including the founding spirit of Yukichi Fukuzawa and the naming of Keio University, the establishment of the college, the history of the Athletic Association, the 75th anniversary, and the reconstruction from the Pacific War. With soul-stirring narration by actor Koji Ishizaka (graduate of the Department of Law, Faculty of Law), the content invites you on a journey through 125 years of the school.

The voice of Dr. John Butterfield, Master of Downing College, Cambridge University, giving a lecture at the Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall), a designated Important Cultural Property, has been preserved. Dr. Butterfield was awarded an honorary doctorate for his significant contributions to academic exchange between Keio and Cambridge University. He also took the podium as a guest at the 125th anniversary commemorative ceremony and delivered a congratulatory speech. Exchanges with Downing College, Cambridge University, continue today, including the holding of summer courses for Keio students. Additionally, at the Keio International Symposium "Asia and Japan" held as a 125th anniversary related event, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohamad, gave a lecture. In the packed venue, Keio students, graduates, and faculty can be seen listening intently, showing that even at a time when Japan as a whole was still Western-oriented, the Keio Gijuku Shachu was among the first to recognize the importance of interacting with and learning from Asian countries.  

On December 4, 1983, the 125th Anniversary Special Concert was held at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Main Hall in Ueno, attended by the then Crown Prince and Princess. The conductor was Kazuo Yamada. You can hear part of a powerful performance of the "Ninth" by the Wagner Society Male Choir, Female Choir, and Orchestra, of which Keio University is proud. This is a very valuable video that even conveys the excitement of the venue.

The Keio University official YouTube series "Those Days, That Time: Keio University Revived in Video" plans to release more valuable footage in the future, including records of the requisition and return of the Hiyoshi Campus by the US military and the opening of the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC). Please subscribe to the channel and stay tuned.