Tracing Memories of Maboroshi no Mon

Photo: October 1998

Until the current main gate was built on the south side of the campus to mark the 100th anniversary of the university's founding, "Maboroshi no Mon" was long cherished as the main gate of Keio University. Its origins date back to 1913. Created by remodeling the wooden gate of the former Shimabara Domain's middle residence, this gate featured four granite gateposts on either side and iron gates. It is also immortalized in the cheering song "Maboroshi no Mon" (lyrics by Daigaku Horiguchi, music by Kosaku Yamada) with the line, "Passing through Maboroshi no Mon, we stand upon the Hill of Wisdom." Along with the view of the library looking up from the gate, it became a landscape of Mita etched into the minds of Keio students. Later, during the war, the iron gates were requisitioned under the Metal Collection Act and replaced with wooden ones. However, due to noticeable decay, they were replaced with aluminum gates in November 1981. Many likely remember those beautiful gates, designed with reference to pre-war photographs and the design of the library entrance. In 2000, as the East Building was completed and the East Gate took on a new form, the gates of Maboroshi no Mon were removed, and the stone pillars and hitching stones were relocated halfway up the slope on the left. The upper part of the gate has been repurposed as the door for the wall machinery room of the pedestrian bridge from the East Building, allowing us to reminisce about the past.

(Text/Composition: Atsuko Ishiguro)

Nehru, the first Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of India, visited the Juku and was awarded the university's fourth honorary doctorate. The Indian flag was flown alongside the Japanese flag at Maboroshi no Mon.