Ochanomizu University

Four Registered Buildings on the Ochanomizu University Campus

Ochanomizu University (お茶の水女子大学, Ochanomizu Joshi Daigaku) is a national university in Otsuka, Bunkyo City, Tokyo, whose campus holds four structures built between 1931 and 1936 (the Main Building, the Auditorium, the Kindergarten Building and the Front Gate) that were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 7, 2008.

All four belong to the rebuilding that followed the Great Kanto Earthquake. The university began in 1875 as the Tokyo Women's Normal School and for nearly half a century stood in the district known as Ochanomizu, today part of Yushima. On September 1, 1923, the earthquake struck and fires spreading from the neighborhood destroyed almost the whole school within a few hours.

Classes carried on in single-storey wooden temporary buildings while a new site was found. The Ministry of Education granted the present Otsuka land in November 1928; construction of the Main Building started in January 1931 and finished in August 1932. By 1936 the affiliated schools had moved too, and the completed campus was celebrated that November with ceremonies, music and advertising balloons over the grounds. The old district's name stayed with the institution, which is why Ochanomizu University is not in Ochanomizu.

The design came from the architecture section of the Ministry of Education, led by section chief Shibagaki Teitaro, with Takahashi Riichiro heading the design team and Tanaka Tokuji as the designer; Shimizu-gumi was the contractor. Fireproof reinforced concrete was a direct lesson of 1923, while the Scratch tile cladding reflected the taste of the early Showa years.

How the Ochanomizu University Buildings Are Laid Out

Three of the Ochanomizu University structures line up on a north-south axis. The Front Gate opens onto Kasuga-dori at the middle of the northern boundary; straight ahead stands the U-shaped Main Building, and behind its central entrance, enclosed by the wings, sits the Auditorium, known as Kiindo. The Kindergarten Building lies to the east of the Main Building, facing its own garden.

A shared palette ties them together. The three buildings wear scratch-tile walls above a dado of Mannari granite, and the gate is faced with the same granite over its concrete core. The Agency for Cultural Affairs registered the three buildings as works that "set a model for design," and the gate as a structure that contributes to the historic landscape. Their registration numbers run consecutively from 13-0222 to 13-0225.

The university's History Museum, inside the Main Building, displays photographs of the burned-out school, the duty diary kept during the disaster and fittings from the 1932 building, which makes it the natural starting point. Each building has its own page covering structure and details.

Getting to Ochanomizu University and Visiting Rules

Ochanomizu University is a 7-minute walk from Myogadani Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (Exit 1, Kasuga-dori side) and an 8-minute walk from Gokokuji Station on the Yurakucho Line (Exit 5). The Toei bus stop Otsuka 2-chome is 1 minute away. There is no visitor parking on campus.

The campus is not open for casual sightseeing. Under the university's entry guidelines, outside visitors state their purpose at the guard station by the main gate, show identification bearing their name, sign the register and wear a visitor lanyard while inside. Those admitted include prospective students and their parents, alumnae, people who have arranged a visit to the History Museum or the library, and participants in public events. The ground floor of the International Student Plaza near the gate needs no entry procedure and houses a small History Museum display of its own.

The History Museum rooms on the ground floor of the Main Building (Rooms 121 and 136) are free. They open without reservation on special days such as Homecoming Day in May, Open Campus in July and the Kiin Festival in November; on other days, apply to the university's library and information division at least 2 weeks in advance for a guided visit on a weekday between 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. As of October 1, 2026, a special exhibition for the university's 150th anniversary is scheduled to run until March 2027.

Photography is allowed only outdoors, and visitors are asked to keep students out of the frame. The affiliated schools, buildings included, may not be visited or photographed at all. The Front Gate can be seen from the Kasuga-dori sidewalk without entering.