NEWS

"An Evening at Taizansō" was held

Update: June 6, 2016

On the 26 (Thur) and 27 (Fri) of May, "An Evening at Taizansō" was held. It was is an event voluntarily planned by students with an aim to conserve, raise awareness of and utilize the Taizansō buildings, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan, located on the ICU campus. The event had been discontinued since 2008 when it was last held, but this year it was revived after 8 years.

Taizansō is the collective name for a group of 6 building structures comprised of the Front Gate, Kofūkyō building, Shoin, Machiai teahouse, Garage and Storehouse. Among them, there is a small room called Ichijōjiki (One-Mat Room) inside the Kofūkyō building built by Takeshirō Matsuura, an explorer of the end of the Edo Period, known as the man who first named Hokkaido. The room is said to have been assembled using pieces of wood taken from shrines, temples and other historical buildings from across Japan. The Machiai teahouse was relocated from the suburban residence of the Ikeda family (lord of Bizen Domain) which used to be located in today's Osaki in Tokyo. This teahouse, which was originally called "Ike-tei" after the family's name, is still being used by the ICU tea ceremony club today. Activities to conserve, raise awareness of and utilize Taizansō are carried out by students who belong to the Taizansō Project.

On the May 26, Two guided tours of the Kofūkyō building were given with small lights blinking here and there in the evening dusk. Works by the Calligraphy Club, Japanese Flower Arrangement Club and Archaeology Club were exhibited in the drawing room. There was also performance on stage set up in the garden on May 27, given by 6 student groups (Rince, Irish Music Circle, Glee Club, Shorinji Kempo Club, Rakugo (comedy storytelling) Club, Naga-uta Club and Classical Japanese Dance Club). Participants enjoyed a beautiful and quiet time.

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We ask for your donation to help conserve Taizansō.

For details, please visit the following web page.

How to make donations

http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/fundraising/taizanso.html

Please write "Funding support for the restoration of Taizansō" in the "purpose" column. Contact: Advancement Office