University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus

The University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus is one of the five university campuses and home to the department of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, and a number of advanced research facilities and campus services. It is the campus for all freshmen and sophomores in undergraduate school. Every University of Tokyo student spends at least two years in the Komaba Campus. University of Tokyo is the only university in Japan that has a system of two years of general education before the students choose their majors. In this system, the Komaba Campus is the cornerstone of the general education, and was designated as the “center of excellence” for three new areas of research by the Japanese Ministry of Education and Science. There are over 7,000 students in the junior division (freshmen and sophomores) for College of Arts and Sciences, about 450 students in the senior division, and 1,400 graduate students.

History

The Komaba Campus is located in Komaba Meguro district, Tokyo. This area was called Komaba Meadows, which served as a hunting ground for the Tokugawa family. In 1878, the Komaba School of Agriculture was founded, and in 1919, the school became Faculty of Agriculture of the Tokyo Imperial University that is the predecessor of University of Tokyo. During World War II, many of the school buildings were destroyed and the new buildings were not built until the Faculty of Agriculture was transferred to Hongo Campus, and Komaba became Dai-ichi KotoGakko. The new buildings were constructed following the architectural styles of Hongo Campus. The Komaba Campus finally became the University’s College of General Education after incorporated into the postwar University of Tokyo, and later renamed as College of Arts and Sciences.

Buildings

Building.1

Building.1, located in front of the Main Gate, is designated as Japanese cultural asset and is one of symbolic buildings in Komaba. The clock tower is opened to the public twice a year. Its shape is square with a courtyard and has about 50 rooms. On the second floor is Academic Guidance Center, which provides students with some information about shinfuri system (Shingaku Furiwake (進学振分け Shingaku Furiwake)) and departments. On the third floor is Student Counseling Center, where students can consult counselors.

Administration Office

Administration Office is a building on the right side of the Main Gate. Offices important for campus life are in this building. For example, Academic Affairs Division deals with reports submission and reissuing a student identification card. Student Support Division helps find part-time jobs, introduces lodgings, lends lecture rooms or equipment, and keeps unclaimed lost articles.

Information Education Building

Information Education Building is on the left side of the Main Gate. In this building, students can use several PCs to send or receive e-mails, surf the Net, build Websites, make reports, and so on. Students can also bring their own PC and connect it to the Net. Lectures on Information are held in this building with a lot of Macintosh computers.

Auditorium (Building 900 ( 900番教室 Kyuuhyakuban kyoushitsu))

Auditrium of the Komaba Campus

Auditorium is the largest lecture room in Komaba. It seats around 600 people. It is used for lectures and explanatory meetings of some organizations or concerts.

Komaba Communication Plaza (Northern Complex)

CO-OP and Bookstore are in this building. Bookstore deals with reference books or scientific books to magazines, literary works and paperbacks.

Komaba Communication Plaza (Southern Complex)

Komaba Communication Plaza of the Komaba Campus

Cafeteria Wakaba is on the first floor of this building, and Dining Icho on the second. Each can accommodate about 500 people.

Campus Plaza

Campus Plaza consists of Complex A, B, C. The Office, meeting rooms, music studios and clubrooms are in Complex A and B. Theatrical circles use the hall in Complex C for public performances.

Gakusei Kaikan (Gakusei Kaikan (学生会館 Gakusei Kaikan))

Many clubs called “circle” have their clubroom in this building. On the 1st floor are photocopiers or printing presses called Ges-pri that are used to print bills of a circle or prints for a terminal examination. Gakusei Kaikan is so crowded that numbered tickets have to be distributed before a school festival or a terminal examination.

Komaba Library

Komaba Library of the Komaba Campus

Komaba Library is the second largest library of the University of Tokyo, after General Library on Hongo campus. It contains about 560,000 volumes. Reading rooms are on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors. On the first floor are the counter, a lounge, computers for book searching, copy section, and Media Park, where students can make use of PCs. Students can borrow 5 books at a time and keep them for two weeks. In the basement there is a special collection of rarely borrowed books and foreign language books. Access requires a special card available at the front office.

Gymnasium 1, 2

Gymnasium 1, 2 are in the northern part of Komaba Campus. Gymnasium 1 has three floors. Students practice Judo, Kendo, table tennis and ball games in it. Gymnasium 2 is a space for badminton or basketball.

Health Service Center Komaba Branch

Students can undergo a medical examination, or consult a doctor in Health Service Center. It has departments of Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Orthopedics, Dentistry and Orthodontist, and Dermatology.

Komaba Museum

The College Art Museum is on the 1st floor of Komaba Museum and the College Science Museum is on the 2nd. Both Museums are open to the public. The College Art Museum houses pictures painted in Japanese style or Western style of the Meiji or Taisho Era, archaeological materials from ancient China, Korea and Japan, Andean folk materials, and so on. On the other hand, the College Science Museum possesses extensive samples of mineral ores, fungi and insects. Also exhibited are experimental apparatuses, measuring instruments, models for teaching which were used when Western science or engineering were introduced to Japan.

Students' Life

Circles

There are as many as 344 clubs that are called “circle” in the University of Tokyo. The difference between a “circle” and a varsity (a team that represents the university) is whether the club is funded by the university. There is only one school team for each sport, but there may be many “circles” for one sport. “Circles” can be divided into three groups; one group is the group of “circles” that belongs to Komaba Campus and another group is the “circles” that belongs to Student-Department and the other is the group that is not admitted by the university. It is important for “circles” and varsities to have newcomers every year so that they can exist. Every year, in April (when freshmen enters universities in Japan), every "circle" and varsity rush to grab some freshmen in their “circles”. It is called (Shinkan (新歓 Shinkan)).

There are 344 “circles” is the University of Tokyo. Exactly half of them are sports related clubs and the other half of them are cultural ones. Among sports clubs, there are 26 tennis clubs, 10 soccer clubs, 7 basketball, badminton, volleyball and alpine clubs, 5 ski clubs, 4 Aiki-do clubs and so on. Among 172 cultural clubs, 34 clubs are about music and the others are about various kinds of hobbies. If a student enters the University of Tokyo and wants to join one, they may join a "circle" that matches their interest, or they may create one if there is no “circle” that matches their interest. More than half of the clubs are inter-college clubs. Some of the clubs are limited to the students who belong to the University of Tokyo.

Varsities(Undoukai (運動会 Undoukai))

There are teams that represents the university called (Undoukai (運動会 Undoukai)) in Japanese. Here are the results of the varsities.

2006

Baseball Club: Tokyo 6 University’s League in Spring, 2006: 6th

Tokyo 6 University’s Freshmen’s Cup: 4th

Tokyo 6 University’s League in Fall, 2006: 6th

2007

Baseball Club: Tokyo 6 University’s League in Spring, 2007: 6th

Lacrosse Blue Bullets: Freshmen’s Cup: 1st

Mitaka International Hall of Residence

Main entrance of Mitaka Hall of Residence

Located in Shinkawa, Mitaka City, Mitaka International Hall of Residence is home to most of the foreign students and is established to provide housing for Komaba students. The ratio between Japanese and international students are about 7:3, and the male to female ratio is 8:2. Each of the 605 single rooms is equipped with basic furniture, kitchenette, shower and toilet, air-conditioner and a telephone. The monthly rent is 14,000 Japanese Yen (excluding power and water fees), which is low considering the regular rent in the Tokyo area. Although most of the Mitaka residents only live in the residence for two years, the Mitaka International Hall of Residence provides help to foreign students as well as Japanese students who come to Tokyo for the education.

Shiketai

The Shiketai system is one of the unique traditions of Komaba campus. Shiketai is the abbreviation for Shiken-Taisakuiin or one of the test measure committee members. The system works by first choosing a chairperson who organizes the committee by assigning different subjects to some class members who are good at the subject. The person in charge of the subject summarizes the knowledge learned during the classes and provides the class member with the material to prepare for the final. This is a cooperative system within the class, and usually, each Univ. of Tokyo students has been one of the Shiketais in some subject.

Komaba Festival

Komaba Festival, or KomabaSai in Japanese, is an annual three-day-festival held in the Komaba campus by the students. Komaba Festival committee, which is in charge of the festival, is usually set up in early May. The members of the committee are mainly freshmen and sophomores studying on the Komaba Campus. It is considered one of the most energetic　campus festival. Though smaller than the Hongo campus, over 400 events and about 80,000 people attend the festival each year. It is one of the biggest campus festival held in Japan. Coordinates: 35°39′38″N 139°41′1″E / 35.66056°N 139.68361°E

References