黑料网

Hiroyuki Sato
Associate Professor

http://www-sato.cc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SATO.Hiroyuki/

---

黑料网’s Asano Campus is built on a small hill that was known as Mt. Asano in the distant past. Geographically, it is located on the easternmost edge of the Hongo terrace beyond which spreads eastward the lowland area of Yanesen (the Yanaka, Negishi and Sendagi districts). In the Edo period, the place where the Campus now stands was part of the second residence of the Mito Domain. Today, this fact can be found mentioned on campus only in the text engraved on the Mukaigaoka-no-ki Monument, which was designated as one of the Promenade of Knowledge* sites by the University (the left edge of Picture 1).

If you look up at the Asano Campus from below, you will immediately be able to tell that the Campus stands on the top of a hill (Pictures 2 and 3). Indeed, reaching the Campus requires an uphill climb in most cases (Picture 1 shows a slope from the Asano South Gate close to the Information Technology Center, while Picture 4 shows a slope leading to a staff apartment building). From these pictures, you may think that the Campus is covered with lush greenery. Actually, however, it is just overgrown with weeds and other natural vegetation.

The Campus also features staff apartments, which are located at the foot of the hill and are still in use. The apartments are shaded by densely growing trees (Picture 5 shows a staff apartment building near the Faculty of Letters Annex). From the looks of things, we can surmise that trimming these trees would be a time-consuming task. At first glance, this Campus, without any fancy gardens or ginkgo trees, seems rather dull. In the summer, however, you may feel as if you are wandering through a mountain forest because of the thick growth of trees and other plant life. Pictures 2 through 5 will help you imagine what it’s like.

By virtue of being on the top of