What Was Envisioned 35 Years Ago (?) | Motohiro Tsuchiya, Vice-President / Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance
2024.09.03
As I had some free time during the summer break, I started organizing documents that had been piling up for several years. I have no idea how it got mixed in with everything else, but an early SFC brochure turned up.
Although I say "early," the cover reads "Pending Approval (Scheduled to open in April 1990)," so it must be from the late 1980s, before the campus opened. I don't think I would have received it when I was a high school student, and since this brochure was tucked away among recent documents, I don't believe it was part of any handover materials I received from someone. In that sense, I can't be sure if it's authentic, but since there would be no point in creating a fake, it's probably real.
What's interesting is that the catchphrase "Youth are international students from the future" was already in use. This phrase was frequently used in the early days of SFC. Thirty-four years have passed since its opening, and those who studied at SFC in its early days are now active and successful in the modern world.
A sketch of the campus is also included. It looks almost the same as it does today, but the Tau building of the graduate school is depicted as a series of three square buildings, which is quite different from the actual Tau. The design must have been changed later.
In the Faculty of Policy Management, three courses are listed: the Policy Management Course, the Social Management Course, and the International Policy Course. In the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, three are shown: the Knowledge and Information Course, the Human Environment Course, and the Media Environment Course. Each of these course names is self-explanatory, but these terms are no longer used today.
While they are now integrated into the Keio Research Institute at SFC, initially, three research institutes were established: the Institute for Policy Studies, the Institute for Environmental Information, and the Institute for Language and Communication Studies. The current Wellness Center seems to have been initially called the "Physical and Mental Training Center."
The conceptual diagram of the basic curriculum structure is also interesting. The name "Graduate School of Media and Governance" does not yet appear, but we can infer that advancing to graduate school was considered part of the plan from the beginning. However, the "Research Seminars" (kenkyukai), which are now central to education at SFC, are nowhere to be found. Initially, the format was similar to other faculties, with students joining research seminars (zemi) from their third year, but discussions eventually grew in favor of allowing students to join from their first year. Now, they are placed at the core of the curriculum, paired with a graduation project (thesis or creative work).
In the "Campus Location and Environment" section, it seems that in conjunction with the surrounding "Forest of Health and Culture" concept, the construction of an event stadium, an event hall, and an "intelligent center" was anticipated, but these promises have not yet been fulfilled. I wonder what kind of facility they envisioned for the "intelligent center."
Furthermore, it states, "A new transportation system connecting both Shonandai and Tsujido stations is planned," but this plan has since taken a different form. Kanagawa Chuo Kotsu buses now connect the two stations, and our current hope is for a railway line extending west from Shonandai Station, passing in front of the campus.
On the back cover, an SFC logo appears alongside the Keio University The Pen Mark. I've never seen it before; I wonder if it was used in the early days. I don't quite understand what it's supposed to mean. Is it the Earth, or a spinning top? I'd like to ask the Keio University Fujisawa New Faculty Preparatory Office, but it seems that extension number is no longer in use.