University of Tokyo Hongo Main Gate and Guardhouse

Ito Chuta's Gate Blending Japan and the West

The University of Tokyo Hongo Main Gate and Guardhouse (東京大学本郷正門及び門衛所) is the main gate and guardhouse of the University of Tokyo's Hongo campus in Bunkyo City, Tokyo, built in 1912 and registered in 1998 as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a single-storey reinforced concrete structure with a copper roof and a building area of 46 square metres, registered as a model of design, designed by Ito Chuta.

The Agency describes a group of structures forming the university's front: the gate, brick walls and guardhouses arranged symmetrically.

Structure and Design

The Agency says the granite gate is said to be based on the kabukimon, a traditional gate with a crossbeam, and that, with the guardhouses showing curved gables, it keeps traditional forms while seeking a new spirit.

The university explains that the crossbeam shows a rising sun among auspicious clouds, and the doors combine a wave pattern, vertical bars and arabesques. The posts are steel clad in thick granite and the doors mix different kinds of iron: Japanese taste combined with Western technique.

What to Look For

From the front, look for the rising sun and clouds on the crossbeam and the wave pattern on the doors, and the curved gables of the symmetrical guardhouses.

The university notes that the original doors and crossbeam were replaced by aluminium-alloy replicas in 1988, and the originals are kept at Komaba.

Visiting

The gate is the campus entrance and can be passed through. The guardhouses are not open.

Visiting rules and directions for the campus are on the University of Tokyo Hongo Campus group page.