a post-blog
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Out near the suburbs of Mitaka-shi, between marine research institutions, vegetable fields, and highway sprawl, there is a complex of dorms for Tokyo University students. The buildings have that decaying Modernist concrete slab look, like if Japan's highest academic achievers found refuge from apocalyptic cataclysm in the set of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. The Komaba campus of "Todai" looks equally slummy, but there is something desolate and creepy about these free-standing futuristic dorms in the middle of the country. Ye intruders beware.
Posted by marxy at June 21, 2005 12:00 PM
Komaba is not my ideal place to live indeed. It's even too far from the railway station.
Posted by: dzima at June 21, 2005 12:38 PM
I recently heard another theory about these weird campuses and student dormitories located far from urban centres: the authorities may see this as a way to control the student body, and avoid riots such as occured in the late 60s. This from a senior academic at a large university in western Japan, which, over the last few years, has moved its entire campus to a location about an hour's commute from the urban centre.
Is this in Saitama or Chiba or somewhere like that?
This is in Mitaka-shi, which is near Kichijoji.
I don't know when these were built but anti-riot prevention seems like a very possible architectural purpose if these were built in the late 60s. Tokyo Univ. kids totally trashed Yasuda Hall.
Posted by: marxy at June 21, 2005 1:05 PMBeida dorms in Beijing (out in the Haidian district, somewhat suburban) look very similar. Except crappier. At least there, one could tell some shallow jokes about "communist chic" or something.
Well, Japan's also a planned economy - they just did a better job using capitalism to their advantage.
Posted by: marxy at June 21, 2005 1:21 PMOh yes, in Saitama all the university entrances were guarded by these big gates that were semi-closed at all times, leaving enough room for only one person to come in or out at a time. Since they were built in the 60's, I thought that was related to student riots too.
Posted by: dzima at June 21, 2005 1:26 PMi belonged to the first batch of students (and the first batch of foreign students) selected to live in todai mitaka ryo. in 1993, it was postmodern. it predated many of the residence halls i lived in england and australia. tokyo university owned the land and the dorm has been there for a long time, even before World War II. the administrators demolished the dilapidated old building and created a series of new structures.
The dorm rooms are very small but they are flats with kitchenettes, toilets/bathrooms in every room. I guess that was unprecedented in many universities during the early 1990s. We also paid electricity and rent through a vending machine at the lobby of Building B. There is a glass screen at the entrance of each room that indicates whether you have paid or not. If you reach 0 balance, electricity will not work inside your room.
It may look desolate now but Mitaka gave me many pleasant memories. I miss it, in fact.
Posted by: jose at May 2, 2006 6:58 PM