The building that became the university's face in 1960
Nagoya University Toyoda Auditorium (名古屋大学豊田講堂) stands in Nizacho, Chikusa Ward, Nagoya, was completed in 1960, and was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2011. It closes the eastern end of the long axis running through the Higashiyama campus, with a wooded rise behind it.
Construction was paid for by a donation from Toyota Motor Co., Ltd., as the company was then called. Records held by the Nagoya University Archives note a policy going back to the founding of Nagoya Imperial University: the auditorium and the library were to be built with local donations. After the war the university was scattered across more than ten districts, and until this building opened its only auditorium sat inside the library on the Tsurumai medical campus.
From the early 1950s the university worked to gather every faculty except medicine onto the Higashiyama site. Engineering moved, then economics, then law. Toyoda Auditorium was finished just as the law faculty completed its move. Construction ended in April 1960 and the opening ceremony was held on 9 May that year.
The name is read Toyoda, not Toyota. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the reading as Nagoya Daigaku Toyoda Kodo. University records state that the hall was named in memory of the inventor Toyoda Sakichi.
Why it was listed, and where it sits
Nagoya University Toyoda Auditorium was entered on the register on 25 July 2011 and gazetted the same day, under register number 23-0333. The criterion is that the structure sets a standard in design. As a listed Registered Tangible Cultural Property, a building from 1960 belongs to the recent end of the range.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs commentary places the building at one of the points Japanese modernist architecture arrived at. Maki Fumihiko designed it and Takenaka Corporation built it. Two years after completion it received the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize for 1962. The city of Nagoya had already listed it in 1993, in the fourth round of its Important Urban Landscape Buildings.
The structure is reinforced concrete, 3 stories above ground with 1 basement level, and a building area of 2981 square meters. A plaza built on an artificial deck opens in front of it, and both that plaza and the approach are covered by the listing. The finish is board-marked exposed concrete. Facing the building, a piloti stands to the right and a large hall occupies the left.
Repairs were carried out in 1990 and again in 2007, the second round handled by the same architect and contractor who built it.
Looking up from the plaza
Approach it head on. The green belt through the Higashiyama campus runs a long way east to west, and Nagoya University Toyoda Auditorium sits at the eastern end, catching the axis. The city of Nagoya notes that the building is clearly visible from Yotsuya-dori.
The exposed concrete carries the joints of its formwork and the marks of its tie bolts, unpainted. Grey deepens and lightens with the weather and the hour. On a clear afternoon the shadow falls unevenly from face to face.
A clock is set into the tower on the front. It is a direct-current tower clock with a dial 2 meters across. When the building opened there was no lighting on it and the hands could only be read in daylight. Red light-emitting diodes were fitted in the 1994 fiscal year, and in November 2001 these were replaced with blue ones. That blue diode was invented and developed in 1989 by Akasaki Isamu, professor emeritus of Nagoya University, while he was working in the faculty of engineering. A commemorative plate near the western lobby entrance records the fact.
One building holds concrete poured in 1960 and a semiconductor born in 1989. Come after dark and the blue of the clock tower reaches you first.
Visiting
Anyone may walk the Higashiyama campus freely. Individual visitors need no advance application and pay nothing. Nagoya University Toyoda Auditorium is not on the university's list of open facilities, so the inside of the hall can be seen only when a lecture, concert or similar event is running. The exterior and the front plaza can be seen at any time.
The university sets out conditions for visitors: walk quietly so that teaching is not disturbed, do not enter buildings other than the designated open facilities, and note that the campus is entirely non-smoking. Visits are discouraged on university entrance examination days.
The nearest station is Nagoya Daigaku on the Nagoya Municipal Subway Meijo Line, which the university describes as immediately outside the campus. Exit 2 puts the auditorium about 3 minutes away on foot. There is no visitor parking, so public transport is the practical option.
Outdoor photography is unrestricted. Press and commercial shoots go through Nagoya University's media office. Timing a visit to the open campus in early August or the homecoming day in late October lets you see the building in use. The university publishes its event schedule online.
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Q&A
- Can I visit Nagoya University Toyoda Auditorium, and can I go inside? Is there a fee?
- The exterior and front plaza can be seen at any time, free and without booking. The hall interior is not on the university's list of open facilities, so it can be entered only when a lecture, concert or similar event is being held.
- How do I get to Nagoya University Toyoda Auditorium and how long is the walk?
- Take the Nagoya Municipal Subway Meijo Line to Nagoya Daigaku station. The university describes the Higashiyama campus as immediately outside the station, and the auditorium is about 3 minutes on foot from exit 2. There is no visitor parking.
- Who designed Nagoya University Toyoda Auditorium and when was it built?
- Maki Fumihiko designed it and Takenaka Corporation built it, with completion in April 1960. The cost was met by a donation from Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. It received the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize for 1962.
- Is the name pronounced Toyota or Toyoda?
- Toyoda. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the reading as Nagoya Daigaku Toyoda Kodo. University records state the hall was named in memory of the inventor Toyoda Sakichi.
- Why does the clock tower at Nagoya University Toyoda Auditorium glow blue?
- Blue light-emitting diodes were fitted to the tower clock, whose dial measures 2 meters across, in November 2001. The technology was invented and developed in 1989 by Akasaki Isamu, professor emeritus of Nagoya University, during his time in the faculty of engineering.
Basic Information
| Name | Nagoya University Toyoda Auditorium |
|---|---|
| Location | 1 Nizacho, Chikusa Ward, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2011 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Reinforced concrete, 3 stories above ground with 1 basement level, building area 2981 square meters, with deck plaza and approach |
| Owner | National University Corporation Nagoya University |
| Public Access | Exterior and front plaza viewable at any time, free of charge. Hall interior open only during events |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00008696
- Cultural Heritage Online, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/161507
- Important Urban Landscape Buildings, City of Nagoya
- https://www.city.nagoya.jp/kankou/kankouinfo/1013766/1013962/1034452/1014002.html
- Monuments and memorials in the history of Nagoya University, Nagoya University Archives
- https://www.nagoya-u.ac.jp/extra/home-coming-day/hcd_16/upload/toyota.pdf
- Open facilities and campus visits, Nagoya University
- https://www.nagoya-u.ac.jp/social/comm-cen-inst/index.html
- Directions, Nagoya University
- https://www.nagoya-u.ac.jp/contact/directions.html
Last verified: 2026.09.02