１－６. Scenery of the Kakuma Campus

Japanese

Since its founding in 1949, Kanazawa University has had its main campus located within the castle, built on the ruins of Kanazawa Castle, and has been famous nationwide as a university within a castle. Given this, why did they decide to move from there to the Kakuma campus?

The idea of relocating the castle campus was first raised in 1974. At that time, the number of students was increasing amid rapid economic growth, and the university was expanding and developing through the establishment of graduate schools and reorganization of departments. In contrast, the castle campus, at just 230,000 ㎡, was too small, and because it was a historic site, it was difficult to construct new buildings. Furthermore, local residents, interested in promoting tourism, had been demanding that the campus be opened to the public. In addition, the Kodatsuno Campus, where the Faculty of Engineering was located, was only 80,000 ㎡, and the Takaramachi Campus was too small to house the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences together. It was against this backdrop that discussions began, and at the end of 1978 the policy of general relocation was decided upon.

In 1979, consideration of possible relocation sites began, and from among several candidates, Kakuma was ultimately selected. Land acquisition began in 1983, and construction began in 1984. However, there were various problems in this process, and opposition to the relocation remained strong and was difficult to dissipate. The Faculty of General Education, which opposed the relocation to the very end, decided on the move in 1992, after the relocation had already begun.

From the beginning, the relocation plan was divided into Phase I, which would involve the relocation of the castle campus, and Phase II, which would involve the relocation of the Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The first phase was completed in the summer of 1989, when the three faculties of Letters, Law, and Economics (the Faculty of Letters and Law had been separated and reorganized in 1980) and the University Library were relocated. This was followed by the Faculty of Science and Faculty of General Education (the current General Education Building) in 1993, and the Administration Office in 1994. Construction on the second phase of the project began in 1998, with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and parts of the Faculty of Engineering being relocated in 2004, and most of the Faculty of Engineering being relocated in 2005, completing the second phase as well. As a result, Kanazawa University came to possess one of the largest campus areas in the country, with a total area of approximately 2 million ㎡.

Many cherry trees had been planted at Kakuma from the time of the relocation. The cherry trees have now grown to be magnificent and are in full bloom around the time of the entrance ceremony. Currently, Kakuma Campus is one of Kanazawa’s most famous cherry blossom viewing spots.

 

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The content of this page is the same as the panel exhibited in the “Shiko no Mori” at Kanazawa University Central Library.

Created in April 2025 by the Working Group on Collections, Kanazawa University Library.