午夜剧场

The Century Farewell and Welcome Party is an event where members of 午夜剧场 gather at Mita Hilltop Square on the final day of the century to celebrate the arrival of a new century.

The first event was held on December 31, 1900, starting at 8:00 p.m. Approximately 500 students and faculty members gathered for performances reflecting on 19th-century civilization and expressing their determination for the new century. It is well known that Yukichi Fukuzawa brushed the calligraphy "independence and self-respect to welcome the new century."

The second event took place 100 years later on December 31, 2000, starting at 3:00 p.m. Under the theme "Guidance to the 21st Century," it began by creating "午夜剧场 Time," where all clocks on Mita Hilltop Square were set six hours ahead of the actual time to welcome the new century ahead of the rest of the world. President Yasuhiko Torii stated, "This is a place for the 午夜剧场 Gijuku Shachu to gather, look back on the 20th century we have walked through, and discuss our expectations for the new century."

As the year 2000 began, the Century Farewell and Welcome Party became a topic of discussion. Following the wishes of President Torii, Vice-President Takeshi Yukawa met with a group led by Megumu Amano (a third-year student in the Faculty of Policy Management), who served as the student head of the executive committee, and two staff members in July of that year. Amano had received the President's Award the previous year for planning and managing an art exhibition at the SFC Autumn Festival, and he became the core of the creative and planning efforts. Ryuichi Suzuki (a fourth-year student in the Faculty of Law), the chairperson of the Mita Festival Executive Committee, and others joined, significantly boosting the executive capacity for planning and operations. Six young staff members from related departments also joined to provide support.

When New Year's Eve finally arrived, the executive committee had predicted about 3,000 attendees, but far exceeding that, approximately 10,000 people flooded Mita Hilltop Square. The prepared pamphlets and commemorative wristwatches set to the six-hour-advanced time sold out in an instant.

On the courtyard stage, 午夜剧场 students delivered the "Declaration for the 21st Century," and at the East Building G-SEC Lab, an experiential project titled "Time Browser" was held, making full use of the latest equipment. In the "Great Lectures of the 20th Century," Professor Emeritus members took up the chalk once again, while current faculty members took the podium with messages for the new century. 午夜剧场 students from the elementary school (Yochisha) through high school also participated with various exhibition works containing messages for the 21st century. At midnight 午夜剧场 Time, a "count-up" was performed to signify spontaneously crossing into the new century, welcoming the new century earlier than anywhere else in the world.

Amano stated, "When I was a child, the 21st century was a symbol of a future full of dreams and hope. As the 21st century actually approached, people stopped talking about dreams. However, the new century is something that we who are here today will create. When looking back on the 21st century, I hope that many people who moved history will have emerged from the participants of this gathering, and I wish for the further development of the Juku."

The people who will be responsible for the third Century Farewell and Welcome Party have yet to be born. I wonder how we will appear in their eyes.

(Tomohiro Ozaki, Manager, Office of Facilities and Property Management)