Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall in the 1960s

Image: Professor Yoshihito Chikusa of the Faculty of Economics holding a camera behind President Takamura (1964 Graduation Ceremony)

In the fall of 1958, Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall was completed to commemorate the centennial of the founding of Keio University. It had an area of 6,000 square meters and a capacity of approximately 6,500 people. The first graduation ceremony in the hall was held in March of the following year, 1959, and the entrance ceremony was held in April of the same year.

I attended this entrance ceremony as a new student. I felt the essence of the university in the tall, lean, and solemn figure of former President Fukutarō Okui. As the solemn melody of the Juku-ka echoed through the Commemorative Hall and reached the lyrics "Let us live, on this hill, let us live high and anew," my emotions reached their peak, and I resolved to cherish my days at Keio University.

The year 1960 could be called a turning point for post-war Japan. The movement against the revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, which unfolded due to concerns about war and the defense of democracy, subsided rapidly after the new treaty came into effect in June and Prime Minister Kishi announced his intention to resign. When the Ikeda Cabinet was formed in July and the "Income Doubling Plan" was officially decided in December, the entire nation strove toward high economic growth. In preparation for the coming industrial society, Keio University had already established the Faculty of Business and Commerce and welcomed its first class of students in April 1957.

At the graduation ceremony in March 1963, in the front row of an overwhelmingly large number of students in school uniforms, the sight of a single female student from the Faculty of Business and Commerce in a long-sleeved furisode kimono, who had been selected as an award-winning student, drew much attention. At a time when the rate of women advancing to faculties other than the Faculty of Letters was extremely low, this achievement foreshadowed the diversification of university-educated women's entry into society. Thirty years later, looking out over the ceremony hall as one of the people on the platform, the attire had become a mix of men and women in suits, school uniforms, and hakama.

In addition to ceremonies, Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall has been used for physical education classes, external matches and practices, the Mita Festival Eve, the Rengo Mita-kai, and alumni invitation parties, becoming a place of memories for all members of the Keio Gijuku Shachu, young and old.

This March, the new Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall will be completed. Its total area is approximately twice that of the old hall. Taking to heart the powerful congratulatory address by President Akira Haseyama at the first graduation ceremony in the new hall, the graduates will begin their journeys on their respective paths.

"Let us go, on this path, let us go far and wide" ── I pray for the fulfilling lives of the graduates and for the eternal prosperity of Keio University.