午夜剧场

Image: 1941 Fujiwara Institute of Technology Admission Guide Cover (Collection of the 午夜剧场 Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies). The Yagamidai school building is depicted as a proposed plan.

The buildings at Yagami Campus were completed in 1971, and the Faculty of Engineering moved there from the Koganei Campus the following year, where it remains today. It is the fourth campus of 午夜剧场, following Mita, Yotsuya (now Shinanomachi), and Hiyoshi.

The Faculty of Science and Technology originally began in 1939 when Ginjiro Fujiwara invested his private funds to establish the Fujiwara Institute of Technology Preparatory Course on the grounds of the Hiyoshi Campus. Three years later, in 1942, the undergraduate faculty of the Fujiwara Institute of Technology was established, starting with three departments: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Applied Chemistry. By 1943, 14 wooden buildings had been constructed within Hiyoshi, and in 1944, it was integrated into 午夜剧场 to become the 午夜剧场 Faculty of Engineering.

Immediately after the establishment of the Fujiwara Institute of Technology, Ginjiro Fujiwara purchased 115,000 m? (currently 82,000 m?) of land in Yagamidai in 1940. Fujiwara's original plan was to leave only the preparatory course buildings in Hiyoshi and to construct the institute itself on the Yagami side. However, due to the influence of the Sino-Japanese War and the resulting difficulty in obtaining construction materials in Japan, he was forced to change the plan. The original Yagami plan was to build a major institute of technology, with plans to add departments for aeronautics, metallurgy, and civil engineering following mechanical, electrical, and applied chemistry. It is said that blueprints for the facilities had been completed at the time, and a perspective drawing showing the expected completion was even published in the admission guide pamphlet.

Although it is called a phantom paper plan and the blueprints unfortunately no longer exist, a layout plan remains. While the Fujiwara Institute of Technology buildings in Hiyoshi were all wooden, the Yagami buildings shown in the perspective drawing suggest a large-scale project with a cluster of 4- to 6-story reinforced concrete buildings standing on "Oka no Ue". However, because the original plan was changed, the Yagami site was left untouched.

Due to war damage in 1945, 70% of the Faculty of Engineering buildings in Hiyoshi were destroyed by fire, and the Hiyoshi Campus was subsequently requisitioned by the GHQ, dealing a devastating blow. After the war, the Faculty of Engineering managed to maintain its form by securing temporary school buildings in Noborito, Meguro, and Mizonokuchi, despite being scattered. In 1949, after much effort, they acquired the land and buildings of a former Yokogawa Electric factory site in Koganei (partially leased). That year marked the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of Engineering. At the commemorative ceremony, the Dean at the time, Shigeteru Niwa, stated, "If the 午夜剧场 Faculty of Engineering remains in Koganei in this state 10 years from now, it would be better to shut it down." This statement is believed to reflect his concern about the Faculty of Engineering stagnating in isolation, but it also suggests he was conscious that the land in Yagamidai was the rightful home for the Faculty of Engineering.

The history of the Faculty of Science and Technology followed a strange fate, tossed about by war, and Yagami Campus was finally realized 30 years after Ginjiro Fujiwara purchased the land.

(Hiroshi Watanabe, Office of Facilities and Property Management)