University of Tokyo Great Hall (Yasuda Auditorium)

The Tile-Clad Hall That Became the University's Symbol

The University of Tokyo Great Hall (Yasuda Auditorium) (東京大学大講堂（安田講堂）) is a reinforced concrete auditorium completed in 1925 on the Hongo campus of the University of Tokyo in Bunkyo City, Tokyo, which in 1996 was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records four storeys with a tower and a building area of 1818 square metres, registered as a model of design. It was designed by Uchida Yoshikazu and built by Shimizu-gumi.

The university notes that it was the first entry in the national register, and that it was built with a donation from Yasuda Zenjiro.

Structure and Design

The Agency describes a strongly vertical design showing the influence of Gothic and Expressionism, faced in reddish-brown tile, and rates it exceptionally fine in design.

The university notes that Uchida seems to have drawn on the gate towers of Cambridge University, yet the powerful design is his own. For a university becoming a modern comprehensive institution, the hall was meant to be its new icon.

It seats 1,136 people, 728 on the ground floor and 408 in the gallery.

What to Look For

Its position closing the east-west axis from the main gate makes it the focus of the campus. From just inside the gate, look at the symmetrical front centred on the tower.

The university records that it was occupied by students around 1970 and badly damaged when they were removed. The Agency notes renovation from 1988 to 1994, and the university completed a full renovation centred on seismic strengthening in 2014.

Visiting

The hall is used for ceremonies and academic events, and no general public access to the interior was found. The exterior can be seen from the campus grounds.

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