June 25, 2025
Keio University
This year, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of Japan's defeat in 1945. Those who were 20 years old at the time are now 100, and those who were 5 are now 85, making firsthand experience of the war, let alone military service, increasingly rare. In 2013, as it began to be said that an era was coming when there would be no "people" left to speak of the war and we would have to let "objects" tell the story—a shift "from people to objects"—the Keio University Fukuzawa-Yukichi Memorial Institute for Modern Japanese Studies, which is responsible for researching and collecting historical materials, launched the "Keio University and the War" Archive Project. The project has focused on collecting and locating various "objects" related to Keio University during the war, and its activities are still ongoing. To mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, Keio University will hold "Keio University and the War: From Objects to People" (Osaka Special Exhibition III), an exhibition that introduces the memories of the war as told by surviving materials, at the Keio Osaka City Campus from July 10 to August 31 (admission is free). This special exhibition is a condensed version of the "Keio University and the War: From Objects to People" exhibition held last year at Keio University's Mita Campus, now presented at the Osaka venue. By exhibiting the collected materials, we will consider what lies beyond the shift "from people to objects"—that is, "from objects to people"—and what the remaining "objects" can pass on to "people." New materials exclusive to the Osaka venue are also scheduled to be exhibited.
General Information
Dates: Thursday, July 10–Sunday, August 31, 2025
Hours: 10:00 AM–5:30 PM *The exhibition will open at 2:00 PM on Thursday, July 10.
Closed: Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays
*However, the exhibition will be open from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on the following dates:
Saturday, July 12; Sunday, July 13; Saturday, August 23; Sunday, August 24; Saturday, August 30; and Sunday, August 31.
Venue: Keio Osaka City Campus
Knowledge Capital Tower C 10F, Grand Front Osaka North Building, 3-1 Ofukacho, Kita-ku, Osaka
TEL: 06-6359-5547 URL Keio Osaka City Campus
Walking distance from JR Osaka Station and Hankyu, Hanshin, and subway Umeda Stations.
Admission: Open to all (free of charge)
*While there will be no private viewing, the curator will provide a guided tour during the gallery talk starting at 2:00 PM on Thursday, July 10. Media coverage is welcome at the venue until 5:00 PM on that day.
For the full press release, please see below.