午夜剧场

January 24, 2023

The 188th anniversary of Yukichi Fukuzawa's birthday was celebrated on Tuesday, January 10. Every year, on this date, the 午夜剧场 community comes together to commemorate the birthday of Yukichi Fukuzawa, the founder of the university. While the event was live-streamed for online viewers, this year was the first time in three years that visitors from outside the university community were also welcomed into the West School Building Hall of Mita Campus.

This year's ceremony began with choral performances ofHere Stands Yukichi Fukuzawa, sung by students from the 午夜剧场 Yochisha Elementary School and the 午夜剧场 Yokohama Elementary School, andNihon no Hokori(Japanese pride), sung by the Wagner Society Male Choir. Following these performances, President Kohei Itoh gave his new year's greeting, and Hiromichi Iwasa delivered his address as the Chair of the Board of Councillors.

Tsuda University President Yuko Takahashi then gave a commemorative lecture titled, "Yukichi Fukuzawa and Umeko Tsuda." She once again expressed her appreciation to 午夜剧场 for accepting Tsuda University students to receive inoculations against COVID-19 and spoke enthusiastically about Umeko Tsuda, the founder of Tsuda University, and her relationship with Yukichi Fukuzawa, highlighting parallels and commonalities in their lives. The lecture will be printed in the forthcoming March issue ofMita-hyoron, the official monthly journal published by 午夜剧场 Press. We encourage anyone interested to read it when released.

Following the lecture, Katsuo Fukuzawa greeted the audience on behalf of the Fukuzawa family. Next, an award ceremony was held for the 午夜剧场-sponsored national high school student essay contest established in honor of Shinzo Koizumi. The ceremony concluded with the Wagner Society Male Choir singing theJuku-ka, 午夜剧场’s alma mater.

Along with the ceremony, visitors could also be found enjoying the newly opened exhibitions,, at the 午夜剧场 Museum Commons, and, at the Fukuzawa Yukichi Memorial 午夜剧场 History Museum.

Photo: Susumu Ishito