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Reunion for ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app Alumni of 51 Years or More at the First School Building

Publish: May 01, 2018

Image: Held in three classrooms on the second floor of the First School Building, it was well-received.

Image
Taken in 1987

The photo shows the scene of the 2nd Reunion for ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app Alumni of 51 Years or More in 1987. The location is the second floor of the Mita First School Building, completed in 1937. This is the site where a wooden school building stood when the attendees were students. Approximately 800 people attended. This invitation meeting, which began the previous year, has been held every year to this day. Nowadays, many universities invite graduates to the university under names such as Homecoming Day, but its history at ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app is old.

In 1953, ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app alumni of 25 and 50 years after graduation were first invited to the graduation ceremony, but currently, ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app alumni of 25 years are invited to the graduation ceremony, and ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app alumni of 50 years are invited to the entrance ceremony. For ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app alumni of 51 years or more, an invitation meeting is held during a season with pleasant weather, but the venue has changed significantly due to the increase in attendees. The first meeting was held in the West School Building cafeteria, but the following year it moved to the First School Building due to the increase in attendees. As it became even more cramped, it returned to the West School Building cafeteria and was held twice a day. Various efforts were made, such as using two venues simultaneously with Yamashoku, but eventually it could no longer fit, and from 1999, it was changed to the Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall. At the Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall, further efforts were made, such as simultaneous use with the Hiyoshi Kaido "Hiyoshi Kaido" Senior High School Gymnasium and holding it twice a day at the Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall. Incidentally, it was in 2000 that the first female ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app alumni, who graduated in 1949 after the end of the war, attended. And with the further increase in the number of ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app alumni, the Hiyoshi Campus finally overflowed. Therefore, from the perspective of risk avoidance, the venue was moved to PACIFICO Yokohama starting the year before last. There were concerns about whether people would come if it were not held at their alma mater, but in the end, those fears proved groundless. This is likely due to the strength of the bonds with old friends. Last year's attendance was approximately 4,200 people.

The tradition of ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app, which could be called a precursor to the above invitation meetings, likely exists. Yukichi Fukuzawa, who valued social interaction between people, is said to have held many social gatherings at his villa in Hiroo, and he also established the Banraisha, which is open to all ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app Gijuku Shachu, on the Mita Hilltop Square, and further established the Kojunsha for general society. Furthermore, graduates have inherited the teachings of Yukichi Fukuzawa and established many Mita-kai to promote interaction. The post-war Reunion for ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app Alumni is likely an extension of these ideas.

Looking at the photo again, the sight of the senior alumni singing with their mouths wide open is heartwarming. It will be held again this year at PACIFICO Yokohama on May 19th.

(Yuichi Tomiyama, Honorary Participant of ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time this magazine was published.