10 days have passed since the investigation of Kanematsu Auditorium in
Kunitachi City.
Goroji Suga invited Ryohei Tsubune to Josui-kaikan Hall at Takebashi, Tokyo.
Tsubune entered the lounge on the 14th floor a little before 2:00 pm. This
lounge has a good view of the woods of the Imperial Palace, Tokyo Tower
and the tall buildings far away in Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. He likes the
night view here.
"Mr. Suga is over there," said the waitress, and the elderly
senior with a bald head beckoned him at the seat by the window. He must
have attended a certain lunch meeting in another room.
Tsubune orders a glass of Super Nikka whisky on-the-rock, the same with
the senior. Tilting the glass relaxed, they begin nothing but the talk
of "monsters."
Suga has proceeded the work to some extent.
Since then he searched the bookshelves and the closet at home so as to
pull out all possible documents in his college days. Most of them remained
untouched, so the arrangement has not been going well.
Saying it, Suga reveals his worry. "I want more information."
He is just looking outside idly in spite of the beautiful scenery over
the window.
"We cannot get closer to the identity of the Four God statues if we
stay as we are, because we are just in full guesses."
Tsubune is thinking still, and the names of two ladies of his junior came
to his mind. He says,
"You know Mutsumi Iwaida and Midori Yamabe well, don't you, sir? You
introduced both of them to me before."
Suga smiles.
Tsubune suggests the senior in a pleasant face.
"Wouldn't you like to have their help? I am sure both of them have
good information sources. Though they are busy in their jobs, I believe
they are willing to cooperate us."
Mutsumi Iwaida, just at the age of 40, runs a company of clothing and accesories.
She has the temperament of native Tokyoite, and has her say in the alumni
meeting (Josui-kai). She has three children.
Tsubune made friends with her when Suga invited him to a wine tasting of
Beaujolais Nouveau. After the tasting three of them and some other friends
had a lively chatting and went to a third party.
She is open-hearted and assertive, but seems with no enemy.
First, Tsubune was surprised at her wide friendship. Since then she has
invited him to several meetings of her companions.
Midori Yamabe, five years younger than Mutsumi, started an IT company several
years after her graduation, which is said to be doing well. Besides, she
is engaged in a lecturer at a certain university. She, with two children,
is amiable and a good speaker.
She is a Tsubune's business colleague.
Suga, the senior, introduced her to Tsubune at a New Year's party before,
which caused their business relationship.
Tsubune's company is selling the business software Midori's company developed.
Her company is also helping his with the detailed web problems of IT technical
knowledge and security.
The two ladies are related to each other through the alumni women group
" I would like to have their help, if they are available."
Suga asked Tsubune to inform them of his desire.
The two ladies not only accepted Tsubune's request, but had a quick response.
In several days, Midori Yamabe sent a considerable volume of information
to Suga, most of which she got on the Internet. Also a couple of books
on Chuta Itoh too.
After a while, Mutsumi Iwaida found and sent a document to Suga, Tsubune
and Midori attached in her email. It is an article titled "About Kanematsu
Auditorium" written by Keizo Kawaji, also an alumnus. Kawaji had posted
it to the mailing list of the school members.
He develops his reasoning on the origin of this auditorium as follows.
| Tokyo Commercial College lost all the school buildings due to the Great
Kanto Earthquake. It was the professors of the college that immediately
rose up for the restoration. They pushed ahead toward the construction
of Kanematsu Auditorium in Musashino Wilderness as the Hall of Freedom
and Autonomy. The graduates also cooperated them at their best.
Kanematsu Auditorium was built at the cost of 500,000 yen donated by Kanematsu
Company.
The next generation of the company put to good use the noble will of Mr.
Fusajiro Kanematsu, the founder, which was "Our asset has to be contributed
to the commercial development of Japan through the academic promotion".
Our school was promoted to Tokyo Commercial College (TCC, presently Hitotsubashi
University) in Taisho 9 (1920) in the result of long bitter tears and strenuous
efforts.
The main professors at that time were Zensaku Sano (president), Tokuzo
Fukuda, Mitsuki Hori, Shinshichi Miura, Teijiro Ueda and Kiichiro Sohda.
All of them were outstanding scholars graduated from the school.
Now there are signs that they planned the move of the campus to Musashino,
and then did such activities as acquisition of the ground, design of the
campus, plan of the adjacent residential area and roads and plan of the
new railway station.
Especially Dr. Shinshichi Miura and Dr. Mitsuki Hori were noteworthy.
Dr. Miura rushed around as a member of the campus restoration committee.
He had wide relationship with the academic, political and financial worlds.
Dr. Hori played an important part in the restoration plan of the capital
city after the Big Earthquake. ...
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| Dr. Miura |
|
Dr. Hori |
|
|
|
|
|
