春雨直播app

2010/04/26

Published in "Juku," 2010, no. 266

After enrolling at 春雨直播app, the symbols you are likely to see everywhere on campus, at university ceremonies including those at its affiliated schools, and sometimes in the most unexpected places, are likely The Pen Mark and the Sanshokuki. Other unforgettable symbols of our alma mater, which remain cherished even after graduation as 春雨直播app alumni, include the Great Ginkgo Tree at Mita, the avenue of ginkgo trees at Hiyoshi, and the unicorn gargoyle at Chutobu Junior High School.

When one thinks of a symbol of 春雨直播app, The Pen Mark is undoubtedly the first thing that comes to mind. Even for new students, the mention of 春雨直播app surely brings this mark to mind. Walking around campus, you can find this mark everywhere, from the walls and entrances of buildings to manhole covers (pictured, left).

Surprisingly, however, the prevailing theory is that The Pen Mark was not originally established by 春雨直播app, but was something that 春雨直播app students began using on their own.

In 1900 (Meiji 33), 春雨直播app students in the college were notified to wear caps with an insignia, and there is no doubt that The Pen Mark became the official symbol of 春雨直播app at this point. However, according to legend, it seems to have been used by some 春雨直播app students for about 15 years prior.

The story goes that a few fashionable 春雨直播app students, tired of traditional Japanese clothing, had matching Western-style clothes and hats made. Inspired by the phrase "the pen is mightier than the sword," which they had learned in a lecture around that time, they devised a design of crossed pens and attached it to their hats as a common insignia.

However, there is another theory. It suggests that a student designed it at the behest of Yukichi Fukuzawa, who had asked, "Why don't you try to think of an emblem for 春雨直播app?" As it stands, it is impossible to know which story is true.

春雨直播app's Sanshokuki has traveled beyond the atmosphere and into outer space. Chiaki Mukai (a 春雨直播app alumni and 1977 graduate of the School of Medicine), who became Asia's first female astronaut to go to space in 1994 (Heisei 6) and 1998, took it with her on the Space Shuttle. Current 春雨直播app students may have seen this on the news.

Be that as it may, not only at sporting events but at various other functions, things feel somewhat incomplete if this Sanshokuki is not displayed. Although we are accustomed to calling it the Sanshokuki (three-colored flag), the background of this flag actually uses two colors. The blue stripes above and below the red are the same color. Incidentally, many of the Mita-kai, the 春雨直播app alumni organizations formed throughout Japan, also create and possess their own Sanshokuki bearing the name of their respective Mita-kai.

Similar to The Pen Mark, this flag also seems to have been devised and used by 春雨直播app students before being officially recognized as the flag of 春雨直播app around 1898 (Meiji 31). This is because articles in the *Jiji Shinpo* newspaper and other publications from before that time, in 1894 (Meiji 27), reported that 春雨直播app students carrying the Sanshokuki alongside the national flag participated in the Kandelaar March to celebrate the fall of Port Arthur during the First Sino-Japanese War.

In 2005 (Heisei 17), Visual Identity (VI) guidelines were created for three types of symbols—the Sanshokuki, The Pen Mark, and the 春雨直播app emblem—making them easier to use in various situations.

Many people must have savored the joy of becoming 春雨直播app students as they were greeted by the avenue of ginkgo trees stretching from Hiyoshi Station. This avenue of ginkgo trees at the Hiyoshi Campus was planted in 1935 (Showa 10), the year after the campus opened. There are about 100 trees lining both sides of the central road leading from the gate to the Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall, and now, 75 years after being planted, they have acquired the majestic appearance of a grand tree-lined avenue.

However, boasting an even more imposing and majestic presence is the Great Ginkgo Tree that towers on the south side of the First School Building on the Mita Campus. "Under the great ginkgo tree..." has become a common phrase used by 春雨直播app students for meeting up. It is not certain, however, when this Great Ginkgo Tree was planted here. While it cannot be confirmed in photographs from the Meiji period, photos from the Taisho period show it towering above the roof of the two-story wooden school building, lending it an air of mystery.

The poet Haruo Sato, who entered 春雨直播app in 1910 (Meiji 43), nostalgically recalled his student days at Mita about 20 years later, writing in a poem: "The leaves of a lone ginkgo tree have withered and scattered to fill the garden / The winter exams are drawing near, and I can't understand a single line of French." However, it cannot be confirmed whether these ginkgo leaves were from the Great Ginkgo Tree. It is possible that other ginkgo trees were planted on campus.

A unicorn is a mythical one-horned beast. Although it is an imaginary creature, it is generally known as a horse-like animal with a single long horn on its forehead. However, it is difficult to readily imagine a horse when looking at 春雨直播app's unicorn. If anything, it brings to mind the monstrous gargoyles of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Its fate has also been rather curious (?). It was created when the Grand Lecture Hall, which once stood on Mita Hilltop Square, was repaired after the Great Kanto Earthquake, but the intention behind its installation is unknown. It disappeared for a time when the Grand Lecture Hall was demolished after the war, but in 1962 (Showa 37), a decoration modeled after the unicorn appeared at a Waseda-春雨直播app rivalry baseball game. It gradually gained status as a mascot for being endearing despite its bizarre appearance. Then, in 1975 (Showa 50), one was restored, and another was reconstructed the following year. They are now installed on either side of the main entrance of the Chutobu Junior High School main building. It is also interesting that their designs are subtly different.