Writer Profile

Atsuko Ishiguro
Public Relations Office Former Office Manager
Atsuko Ishiguro
Public Relations Office Former Office Manager
Image: The area around the fountain crowded during orientation. In the background is the former Student Union Building (1984).
The campus environment has improved significantly compared to nearly half a century ago when I was a student. While the maintenance of facilities like school buildings is a major factor, the graduation gifts donated by each year's graduating class have also played a role in enhancing the campus environment. These graduation gifts were planned and implemented by the Graduation Preparation Committee, who brainstormed ideas for their juniors alongside preparations for the Garden Party. Various graduation gifts have been left behind, such as campus maps, message boards, signs at facility entrances, the marble benches in front of Mita First Building, the "Signal to the Stars" sculpture at Mita, the mural at the Hiyoshi Student Union Building, the wisteria trellis at Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), and the double-sided pole-mounted solar clock at Yagami Campus (FY2007). However, since FY2008, when the preparation committees were no longer established, graduation gifts have ceased to be implemented.
It is unclear exactly when these graduation gifts began, but there is a record from as far back as FY1963 of a floral clock being gifted to the flowerbed that still remains at the top of the South School Building stairs in the Mita courtyard. The following year, FY1964, the fountain in front of Hiyoshi Building 4 was donated. The floral clock, three meters in diameter, had colorful flowers planted on its face and was clearly visible from the top of the South School Building as the only outdoor clock in Mita at the time. However, it disappeared at some point, and now shrubs grow over it. Only a signpost remained until very recently.
On the other hand, the Hiyoshi fountain, which had its completion ceremony on September 5, 1965, existed for over 40 years as a symbol of the Hiyoshi courtyard until it was removed in September 2007 due to the Hiyoshi Campus renovations for the 150th Anniversary Project. Many people likely remember it. Initially, there was a pedestal in the center, but it was later removed. I seem to recall times when the water stopped running. My memory is a bit hazy, but towards the end, the fountain may have been removed, leaving only the pond. When it was first completed, benches were provided around it, making it a place for students to relax. Just as ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app students in recent years use "Yukichi" (the Bronze Statue of Yukichi Fukuzawa in front of the library) as a meeting spot, I have heard that in the 80s, "at the fountain" was the standard. Looking at the fountain during orientation in April 1984, there were hedges around it and no benches. Over those 40 years, the fountain showed a different face in each era, and the image of it may differ depending on the years one attended.
*Affiliations and titles are as of the time this magazine was published.