Editing University of Tokyo (section)

=== World War II ===
[[File:東京帝国大学第二工学部本部事務室.png|thumb|237x237px|UTokyo’s Second Faculty of Engineering was established in 1942 to meet the growing demand for engineers during the Second World War. It evolved into the [[Institute of Industrial Science]] after the war.]]
In 1941, the [[Empire of Japan]] [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked the American bases at Pearl Harbor]] and joined [[World War II]] as an [[Axis powers|Axis power]] alongside [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]. By late 1943, as Japan faced significant defeats in the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific theatre]], a decision was made to enlist university students studying humanities, sending them to battlefields. During the war, 1,652 students and alumni of UTokyo were killed, including those from varied civilian professions such as doctors, engineers, and diplomats, as well as those killed in action.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=谷本 |first=宗生 |date=31 March 2014 |title=「学生とともに考える学徒出陣 70 周年—記憶と継承」—（東京大学附属図書館・東京大学史史料室共催）を終えて、一緒に考えてみたこと— |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/content/400005683.pdf |journal=東京大学資料室ニュース |issue=52}}</ref> They are commemorated in a memorial erected near the front gate of the Hongo Campus. Most students from faculties of engineering and science remained at university or worked as apprentice engineers, as the expertise of science and technology was deemed indispensable for the war effort. [[Leo Esaki]], who was a student at the department of physics during the war, shared his memory of his university life in 2007: 'The day after the [[Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945)|Tokyo Air Raid of 9 March 1945]], during which more than 100 thousand citizens were killed, professor Tanaka conducted class as usual, without mentioning the war at all'.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=東京大学創立130周年記念事業 |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/130ut/event/03_07.html |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=www.u-tokyo.ac.jp}}</ref> The buildings and facilities of UTokyo were largely immune from air raids, allowing education and research activities to continue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=東京帝国大学営繕工事記録写真帳 |url=https://umdb.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/DAnnex/photobook/home.php |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=umdb.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp}}</ref>

The increased demand brought about by the war for engineers, especially in the fields of aeronautics, machinery, electronics, and shipbuilding, led to the establishment of the Second Faculty of Engineering ({{lang|ja|第二工学部}}) at UTokyo in 1942. In the newly built Chiba Campus, around 800 students were enrolled at one time, and military engineering research activities were conducted. It was closed in 1951, and as a successor organisation, the [[Institute of Industrial Science]] was established on the site of the former headquarters of the Third Infantry Regiment in [[Roppongi]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hirasawa |first=Hideo |date=2012 |title=第二工学部の思い出 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/seisankenkyu/64/3/64_399/_pdf |journal=生産研究 |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=399 |via=JSTAGE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=沿革・歴代研究科長 |url=https://www.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/soe/about/history |access-date=2023-12-09 |website=東京大学工学部 |language=ja}}</ref> During the war, the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Imperial Army]] attempted to use the university's facilities several times, including plans to relocate the university to [[Sendai]] and use the [[Hongō campus|Hongo Campus]] as a fortress for the anticipated Allied landing, [[Operation Downfall]], to protect the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace|Imperial Palace]]. President [[Yoshikazu Uchida]] consistently denied these requests by persuading them of the importance of culture, education and research for the country's long-term development. In September 1945, efforts by Uchida and [[Shigeru Nambara]], Dean of the Faculty of Law, prevented the campus from becoming the [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers|Allied Headquarters]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=東京大学が接収を免れた経緯について（二） 内田 祥三 No. 661（昭和30年10月） {{!}} 一般社団法人学士会 北大・東北大・東大・名大・京大・阪大・九大 卒業生のためのアカデミック・コミュニティー・クラブ |url=https://www.gakushikai.or.jp/magazine/article/archives/archives_661/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=www.gakushikai.or.jp |language=ja}}</ref> Instead, the [[DN Tower 21|Dai-Ichi Seimei Building]] was chosen. Nambara succeeded Uchida as president in December 1945.