Landmark & Tower · Hongo

Yasuda Auditorium and University of Tokyo Hongo Campus 東京大学 安田講堂・本郷キャンパス

Japan's top university, with the 1925 brick clock tower of Yasuda Auditorium, Sanshiro Pond, gothic-style lecture halls, a ginkgo avenue that blazes yellow in late autumn and the historic Akamon red gate (under repair until 2027).

About

The Hongo campus occupies the former Edo estate of the Maeda lords of Kaga, and its architecture is a rare unified ensemble: most of the main buildings were designed by Uchida Yoshikazu after the 1923 earthquake in a 'Uchida Gothic' style of scratch-textured brown tiles, arches and gateways. The centrepiece, Yasuda Auditorium, completed in 1925 and funded by the Yasuda zaibatsu, became nationally famous in January 1969 when riot police retook it from occupying students in a televised siege. Below the main buildings lies Sanshiro Pond, the old feudal garden pond named after Natsume Soseki's novel. The vermilion Akamon gate, built in 1827 when a shogun's daughter married into the Maeda family, is an Important Cultural Property; it has been closed since 2021 for seismic strengthening, with work expected to finish around autumn 2027, so for now it is under scaffolding. The campus is open to the public and the ginkgo avenue leading to Yasuda Auditorium is one of Tokyo's finest in late November.

Highlights

• Yasuda Auditorium's brick clock tower, scene of the 1969 student siege
• Ginkgo avenue turning gold in late November
• Sanshiro Pond, a feudal-era garden pond in the woods
• Uchida Gothic arcades and lecture halls
• Akamon, an 1827 Edo-period red gate (covered for repair until about autumn 2027)

Tips

• The campus is open to visitors but is a working university: keep to paths and do not enter buildings or lectures uninvited.
• Enter via the Main Gate (Seimon) on Hongo-dori for the straight ginkgo-lined view of Yasuda Auditorium.
• The student cafeteria under Yasuda Auditorium and the campus cafes are open to the public at lunchtime outside peak hours.
• The Hachiko and Professor Ueno statue is across the road on the Yayoi (Agriculture) campus, 5 minutes away.

Open in Google Maps · Info checked 2026-10-09

Nearby

• The University Museum, The University of TokyoMuseum · 0 m away
• Yayoi Museum & Takehisa Yumeji MuseumMuseum · 70 m away
• Hachiko and Professor Ueno StatueStatue & Monument · 460 m away
• Yokoyama Taikan Memorial HallMuseum · 500 m away
• Kyu-Iwasaki-tei GardensLandmark & Tower · 640 m away
• Ueno ToshoguShrine · 680 m away
• Nezu ShrineShrine · 710 m away
• Ueno ZooZoo & Aquarium · 750 m away