Sophia Men's Dormitory Closing
- Sunday, April 10, 2005 (Tokyo, Japan)
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| I spent yesterday with colleagues in Inokashira-koen enjoying the cherry blossom and a couple of cold beers. Today, Yuka and I walked around the Imperial Palace and then all the way to Yotsuya past Yasukuni-jinja. Lots of cherry blossom trees can be seen almost the entire way. | Yotsuya is of course the site of my Alma Matter, Sophia University. I was surprised to see that the dormitory I used to live in had closed down. The class that graduated in March, 2005, were the last students to live in the dormitory. |
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| The staircase up to the dormitory had a no-entry sign warning of the potential dangers of going any further. Since I heed all warnings, I could not go upstairs to check out the room I used to live in. When I entered the university as a freshman in 1998, the dormitory was the cheapest accommodation alternative available. | The only thing remaining of the dormitory was the reception. This was the place where we used to read the newspaper that arrived daily, and we would also meet with friends. Since people not living in the dormitory were not allowed to enter into any of the rooms, this was usually the only place to meet. |
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| A poster made by the by 2005 dormitory graduates. Particularly the Japanese students in the dormitory had to take part in several meetings and activities every week, and there were numerous rules and regulations to abide by. Living two people on a tiny room smaller than a prison cell was a good experience, but something I am glad I did not have to endure much more than a year. | A view of the Sophia dormitory building (the brown one in the background). It will soon be demolished, though I am not sure what will be built next. It will probably not be a new dormitory, as a new Sophia dormitory has opened just a short train ride away from Yotsuya. The white building to the left is also new, housing a law school and other new faculties. You can read more about the Sophia dormitory here. |