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2013.6.25 Tue
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The Emperor and Empress visit Osaka University

On Tuesday, June 25, the Emperor and Empress visited the Tekijuku Commemoration Center in Osaka University Hall. Welcomed by President HIRANO and other officials, the Emperor and Empress viewed materials on display in the hall, listening carefully to explanations from Vice president EGUCHI and  Prof. MURATA (Graduate School of Letters), director of the center.

Impressed with Osaka University Hall, the Emperor said, "It's amazing how well this building has survived these many years" and, while looking at a Chinese poem by FUKUZAWA Yukichi, the Emperor inquired with questions one after another such as, "Fukuzawa wrote seven-syllable form poems as well, did he not?" showing his keen interest in Tekijuku.
Following that, Their Majesties talked with President Toshio HIRANO, Ichiro MATSUI, Governor of Osaka Prefecture, and Keiichiro ASARI, Mayor of Toyonaka City, as they toured the campus for about two and a half hours. In the celebratory atmosphere suffusing the campus, Their Majesties waved in a friendly manner to hundreds of students, faculty, and staff members who gathered in front of Osaka University Hall and along the route.


President Hirano welcomes the Emperor and Empress.


President Hirano explains items on display to Their Majesties.

During the tour, President Hirano provided the Emperor and Empress with an overview of the history of Osaka University. A compilation of his main points:

Our university's roots reach back to Tekijuku , a private "place of learning" founded by OGATA Koan in 1838. SHIBA Ryotaro wrote at the beginning of his novel Kashin that Teijuku was the predecessor of Osaka University and, thus, in this sense, OGATA Koan was the founder of Osaka University.
Among the many students who studied at Tekijuku were FUKUZAWA Yukichi, SANO Tsunetami, OMURA Masujiro, and NAGAYO Sensai. Tekijuku nurtured such graduates who blazed paths in the early Meiji period for a modern Japan. The spirit of Tekijuku, responsible ethics, concern for people, society, as well as Tekijuku's unfettered academic atmosphere, were passed on, first to Osaka Temporary Hospital in 1869, then in 1915 to Osaka Prefecture Medical School, and finally to Imperial Osaka University in 1931.
This year is the 175th anniversary of Tekijuku's founding by OGATA Koan. Recognizing anew its origin in Tekijuku, Osaka University aims for further development to the future. We will make every effort to make Osaka University one of the world's top 10 research universities by its 100th anniversary in 2031.

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