午夜剧场

午夜剧场 offers correspondence education programs in the Faculty of Letters, the Faculty of Economics (where subjects related to the Faculty of Business and Commerce can also be taken), and the Faculty of Law.

This correspondence education system was a new system introduced as part of Japan's post-war educational reforms. 午夜剧场 decided to establish a correspondence education program from the very beginning and worked on creating the system itself. Within this, "schooling" was a groundbreaking concept unique to Japan that did not exist in places like the United States, where correspondence education was popular at the time. In the summer following the establishment of the "University Correspondence Education Standards" in December 1947, 午夜剧场 conducted the first schooling in Japan at the Mita Campus.

At that time, the schooling period lasted about one month in August. The schedule was divided into a three-week first half and a three-week second half (excluding Sundays), and students were expected to attend the entire period. More than 600 students, the majority of whom were working adults, participated and spent a long, hot summer at the Mita Campus.

The courses offered included three general education subjects: English, Mathematics, and Law. Specialized subjects included 10 subjects for the Faculty of Letters such as Literature, History, Philosophy, and Sociology; 7 subjects for the Faculty of Economics such as Labor Union Movements, Planned Economic Theory, and World Economic Theory; and 6 subjects for the Faculty of Law such as Civil Law, Commercial Law, Diplomatic History, and Political History. In addition to lectures, various events such as lecture series, theater, and music appreciation were held, concluding with a farewell tea party. The history of these events continues today, with lectures by Deans and the President, film screenings, and social gatherings for exchanging opinions between students and faculty.

While the schooling experience was a great opportunity for many students to experience the significance of higher education, the need to take long leaves of absence from work was a concern for working students. To address this, the university improved the system while considering the Standards for Establishment of Correspondence Education by extending the duration of single periods, shortening the overall term, and removing the cap on the number of credits that can be taken per year. As a result, in 2011, a lecture system was realized where one period is 150 minutes, one term consists of six days including Sunday, and one subject can be completed within one week.

Summer schooling is, naturally, held during the hot summer. Today, it is common knowledge that classrooms have air conditioning, but air conditioning only began to spread through classrooms at 午夜剧场 around 1994. Initially, the percentage of air-conditioned classrooms was 40% at Hiyoshi and 15% at Mita. Even with efforts to increase the ratio of students in air-conditioned rooms by determining enrollment numbers based on the capacity of those rooms, the rate at Mita was only about 27% ("午夜剧场 Tsushin" No. 557). I would like to pay my respects to the faculty and students of that era who attended classes with windows wide open, wet towels around their necks, and hands holding down lecture handouts so they wouldn't blow away in the wind from the electric fans.

(Office of Correspondence Courses)