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The 188th anniversary of Yukichi Fukuzawa's birthday was celebrated on Tuesday, January 10. Every year, on this date, the Keio University community comes together to commemorate the birthday of Yukichi Fukuzawa, the founder of the university. While the event was live-streamed for online viewers, this year was the first time in three years that visitors from outside the university community were also welcomed into the West School Building Hall of Mita Campus.

This year's ceremony began with choral performances of Here Stands Yukichi Fukuzawa, sung by students from the Keio Yochisha Elementary School and the Keio Yokohama Elementary School, and Nihon no Hokori (Japanese pride), sung by the Wagner Society Male Choir. Following these performances, President Kohei Itoh gave his new year's greeting, and Hiromichi Iwasa delivered his address as the Chair of the Board of Councillors.

Tsuda University President Yuko Takahashi then gave a commemorative lecture titled, "Yukichi Fukuzawa and Umeko Tsuda." She once again expressed her appreciation to Keio University for accepting Tsuda University students to receive inoculations against COVID-19 and spoke enthusiastically about Umeko Tsuda, the founder of Tsuda University, and her relationship with Yukichi Fukuzawa, highlighting parallels and commonalities in their lives. The lecture will be printed in the forthcoming March issue of Mita-hyoron, the official monthly journal published by Keio University Press. We encourage anyone interested to read it when released.

Following the lecture, Katsuo Fukuzawa greeted the audience on behalf of the Fukuzawa family. Next, an award ceremony was held for the Keio University-sponsored national high school student essay contest established in honor of Shinzo Koizumi. The ceremony concluded with the Wagner Society Male Choir singing the Juku-ka, Keio University’s alma mater.

Along with the ceremony, visitors could also be found enjoying the newly opened exhibitions, Where the Rabbits Are, at the Keio Museum Commons, and Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies, Keio University, Exhibition of Newly Acquired Materials 2023, at the Fukuzawa Yukichi Memorial Keio History Museum.