Editing University of Tokyo (section)

=== Interwar period ===
[[File:Emperor Shōwa arrival at the University of Tokyo.png|thumb|[[Hirohito|Emperor Hirohito]] opening a new campus (now known as the Phase II portion of the [[University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus|Komaba Campus]]) for the Institute of Aeronautics in 1930]]
The first half of the Interwar period in Japan was characterised by the spread of liberal ideas, collectively known as [[Taishō Democracy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=吉野作造｜大正デモクラシー｜民主主義｜選挙普通 (Sakuzo Yoshino, Taisho Democracy, Minpon shugi, Universal suffrage) |url=https://www.yoshinosakuzou.info/blank-22 |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=home |language=ja}}</ref> This movement was ushered in by the concept of ''[[Minpon Shugi]]'' by [[Sakuzō Yoshino]], as well as [[Tatsukichi Minobe]]'s interpretation of sovereignty as inherent to the state rather than the monarchy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=日本放送協会 |title=文字と画像で見る {{!}} 歴史総合 |url=https://www.nhk.or.jp/kokokoza/rekishisougou/contents/resume/resume_0000000527.html |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=高校講座 |language=ja}}</ref> Both were alumni and professors at the Faculty of Law. Taking advantage of the widespread acceptance of such ideas, prime minister [[Katō Takaaki|Takaaki Katō]], an alumnus of UTokyo, extended suffrage to all males aged 25 and over in 1925, as promised in his manifesto.<ref>{{Cite web |title=3-13 男子普通選挙法の成立と治安維持法 {{!}} 史料にみる日本の近代 |url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/modern/cha3/description13.html |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=www.ndl.go.jp |language=ja}}</ref> This liberal tendency was also shared among students, exemplified by the labour movement organisation the UTokyo Association of New People (東大新人会, {{Interlanguage link|Tōdai Shinjin-kai|ja|新人会}}) and the UTokyo Settlement (東大セツルメント, {{Interlanguage link|Tōdai Settlement|ja|学生セツルメント}}).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=中筋 |first=直哉 |date=1998 |title=磯村都市社会学の揺籃 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jpasurban1983/1998/16/1998_16_29/_article/-char/ja/ |journal=日本都市社会学会年報 |volume=1998 |issue=16 |pages=29–47 |doi=10.5637/jpasurban1983.1998.29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Henry |title=Japan's First Student Radicals |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |year=1972 |isbn=9780674471856 |language=en}}</ref> However, strong reactions against these liberal and socialist ideas also emerged at the university, notably from [[Uesugi Shinkichi|Shinkichi Uesugi]], who mentored and greatly influenced three future prime ministers among his students at UTokyo: [[Nobusuke Kishi]],<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Fukuda |first=Kazuya |title=悪と徳と 岸信介と未完の日本 |publisher=扶桑社 |isbn=9784594073152 |publication-date=October 2015 |language=ja}}</ref> [[Eisaku Satō]],<ref name=":16" /> and [[Takeo Fukuda]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=大下英治 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S3drEAAAQBAJ&dq=%E4%B8%8A%E6%9D%89%E6%85%8E%E5%90%89%E3%80%80%E7%A6%8F%E7%94%B0%E8%B5%B3%E5%A4%AB&pg=PT17 |script-title=ja:清和会秘録 |title=Seiwakai hiroku |date=2015-10-15 |publisher=イースト・プレス |isbn=978-4-7816-5058-6 |language=ja}}</ref>

==== Great Kanto Earthquake ====
[[File:Tokyo Imperial University after Great Kanto earthquake.JPG|thumb|The University of Tokyo suffered immense damage in the Great Earthquake of 1923.]]
On September 1, 1923, the [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake|Great Kanto Earthquake]] struck the Kanto Plain, inflicting immense damage upon the university. This damage included the complete destruction of almost all main buildings, including the library, as well as the loss of precious scientific and historical samples and data stored in them.<ref>Earthquake disaster and reconstruction, The University of Tokyo 100-year history {{cite book |url=https://repository.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/record/53865/files/02_hyakunenshi_tsushi02.pdf#page459 |access-date=2021-05-29 |format=pdf |page=385 |editor=東京大学百年史編集委員会 |publisher=東京大学 |volume=II |date=March 1985 |title=東大百年史 通史 |archive-date=2021-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606073831/https://repository.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/record/53865/files/02_hyakunenshi_tsushi02.pdf#page459 |url-status=live }} {{in lang|ja}}</ref><ref name="lostmemoryunesco">[http://www.unesco.org/webworld/mdm/administ/pdf/LOSTMEMO.PDF Lost Memory – Libraries and Archives Destroyed in the Twentieth Century] ( {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905105742/http://www.unesco.org/webworld/mdm/administ/pdf/LOSTMEMO.PDF|date=September 5, 2012}})</ref> This led to a university-wide debate as to whether it should relocate to a larger site, such as [[Yoyogi]], but ultimately, such plans were rejected. Instead, the university purchased additional land in its vicinity, which was still owned by the Maeda family, and expanded there.
[[File:University of Tokyo circa 1953.jpg|thumb|Most of the buildings on the [[Hongō campus|Hongo Campus]] today were built during the reconstruction period in a style known as Uchida Gothic, including [[Yasuda Auditorium]] and the [[University of Tokyo Library#General Library (Hongo)|General Library]].]]
The reconstruction of the university and its library was brought up in the fourth general assembly of the [[League of Nations]] in September 1923, where it was unanimously decided to provide support. The League is said to have been sympathetic especially because the memory of the destruction of [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|KU Leuven]] in Belgium during the [[World War I|First World War]] was still fresh.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-15 |title=Libraries and disasters, libraries and wars |url=https://letterpresslabo.com/2019/12/15/kulpcws-column37/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=活版印刷研究所 |language=ja}}</ref> The American philanthropist [[John D. Rockefeller Jr.]] personally donated $2 million (approximately $36 million in 2023). The United Kingdom formed a committee led by former Prime Minister [[Arthur Balfour|Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour]], and made substantial financial and cultural contributions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=記念特別展示会－世界から贈られた図書を受け継いで－ |url=https://www.lib.u-tokyo.ac.jp/html/tenjikai/tenjikai2007/preface.html |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=www.lib.u-tokyo.ac.jp}}</ref> Rockefeller Jr. and [[Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester]], a younger son of [[George V]], visited the university in 1929, shortly after the [[University of Tokyo Library#General Library (Hongo)|new library]] was completed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=総合図書館今昔物語 |url=https://www.lib.u-tokyo.ac.jp/html/tenjikai/tenjikai2013/index.html |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=www.lib.u-tokyo.ac.jp}}</ref> Prince Henry's visit marked the first Great Ball (大園遊会, ''Dai-Enyukai'') in several years, which is now known as the May Festival (五月祭, ''Gogatsusai'').<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hiroya |first=Sato |date=30 March 2020 |title=東京大学五月祭の歴史 : 東京帝国大学におけるその起源と変遷 |url=https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1390290699580206208 |journal=東京大学大学院教育学研究科紀要 |volume=59 |pages=241–251 |issn=1342-1050}}</ref> A large portion of the buildings on Hongo Campus today were built during this reconstruction period, and their unique [[Collegiate Gothic|Collegiate Gothic style]] is known as Uchida Gothic ({{lang|ja|内田ゴシック}}) after [[Yoshikazu Uchida]], the architect who designed them.<ref>{{Cite web |title=内田祥三・丹下健三と建築学の戦中・戦後 |url=https://ocw.u-tokyo.ac.jp/lecture_1249/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |language=ja}}</ref>

Another notable change the earthquake brought about at the university was the expansion of its [[Seismology|seismology studies]]. Long having been the only university in the [[List of earthquakes in Japan|seismically active country]], the university was already known for its seismology research, most notably the contributions made by its alumnus and professor, [[Fusakichi Omori]], in quantitatively evaluating the aftershocks of earthquakes ([[Omori's law]]) and developing a new type of seismometer capable of recording [[P wave|primary waves]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davison |first=C. |date=January 1924 |title=Prof. Fusakichi Omori |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/113133a0 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=113 |issue=2830 |pages=133 |doi=10.1038/113133a0 |bibcode=1924Natur.113..133D |issn=1476-4687}}</ref> The university set up an independent seismology department in November 1923 to delve into the causes and effects of earthquakes and to better prepare for future seismic events.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/overview/history.html |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=SCHOOL OF SCIENCE THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO |language=en}}</ref> In 1925, with a government grant, the [[Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo|Earthquake Research Institute]] was established within the university, and it has been in continuous operation up to today.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Greeting from the Director – Earthquake Research Institute, the University of Tokyo |url=https://www.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/overview/greeting-from-the-director/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |language=ja}}</ref>