Kyoto University to Break Ground This Fall on IPS Research Center

ｉＰＳ新研究棟、整備へ　京大・今秋着工

Kyoto University will begin work on a new IPS (Induced pluripotent stem cell) research facility on its main campus in Okazaki. It will be the third such facility at the university, home to more Nobel Laureates than any other university in Japan.

One of them is Shinya Yamanaka, who is leading Japan's charge to take stem cells and use them to regrow unhealthy cells.

The facility in which Yamanaka now works is five-stories and 12,000 square meters.

A second facility is already under construction next to the current building and will be complete in 2014.

The third will be 7500 square meters and we expect ever more Nobels to flow towards Kyoto.

Photo©Kyoto Shinbun

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Murakami Haruki in Kyoto for Lecture

村上春樹さん新作「新しい試み」　京大で公開インタビュー

Renowned author Murakami Haruki spoke at Kyoto University yesterday.

500 fans showed up on the final day of the Golden Week holiday for the public interview in the university's Hyakunen Kinenkan (Centennial Hall).

The author and perennial pick to win a Nobel Prize took questions from the audience for two hours.

The audience was limited to 500. Many more than that applied and those that got in did so via a lottery.


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Kyoto University Museum Uffizi Exhibit

ウフィツィ・ヴァーチャル・ミュージアム京都大学総合博物館

The Kyoto University Museum will be hosting a big-ticket exhibit.

The Uffizi Museum is loaning some of its best works for a spring exhibit.

The Florence, Italy, gallery will be sending works by Urbino, "The Birth of Venus," and others.

The Kyoto University Museum also is home to permanent collections of insects, maps, and all manner of goods collected by the world famous university's faculty over the decades.


Information

Kyoto University Museum
Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501
Tel: 075 753 3272

Exhibit Period: January 16 - March 17
Hours: 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (Last entry: 4:00 p.m.; closed Mondays and Tuesdays)
Fee: 400 yen for adults (those 70 and over free)

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Kyoto University Yoshida Dormitory

自転車で京都大学吉田寮

On the edge of Kyoto University's main Campus is a legendary dormitory. It is barely habitable - but very much inhabited.

The Yoshida Dormitory was built in 1913, and appears never to have been repaired since.

From its inception, it was self-administering through a dormitory association (寮自治会). This means that the residents - students - select who can live in the dorm. That continues more or less to this day.

In 1971, however, the Ministry of Education initiated a policy of regulating and or closing such dormitories because they were perceived of as being hotbeds of radicalism and trouble.

Kyoto University itself attempted to close the dorm in 1979 - failed - but did manage to close down nearby Western Yoshida dormitory.

Today the dorm is still standing, if barely. It does have Internet connections and electricity, but little else in the way of modern amenities.

The university continues in its attempts to tear down the structure and replace it.

The dorm today is co-ed and has been since 1985. Foreign students have resided in the dorm since 1990.

The cost of rent is 2,500 yen (about $31) a month, which covers utilities. This is probably not much different than what residents paid half a century ago.

It is also possible to stay - on a filthy floor - for 200 yen a night.

Directions

The dormitory is at the corner of Higashi Oji and Konoe Dori. From the Kyoto University Hospital, go north on Higashi Oji Dori, cross at Konoe Dori.

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Kyoto University Museum Giorgio Vasari Exhibit

ジョルジョ・ヴァザーリのウフィツィ：建築とその表現

Giorgio Vasari (1511 - 1574) was a noted Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect.

Vasari today is best known for his biographies of Italian artists, and he is considered the founder of scholarly art history writing.

To celebrate the 500th anniversary of Vasari's birth, the Kyoto University Museum is displaying architectural models and other works related to the Uffizi Museum in Florence.

The exhibit also focuses on Vasari's work as an architect.

Vasari is not well known in Japan. This is wonderful opportunity for those not familiar with a titan of Italian art and architecture to learn. For those already versed in Vasari's work, this is a great chance to become reacquainted.

The exhibit runs through February 5th.

Information

Kyoto University Museum
Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan


Hours: 9:30 - 16:30 (last entry 16:00)

Fee: 400 yen for adults

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Kyoto University Bicycle

京都大学自転車

Locked firmly in place, this future Nobel Prize candidate's bicycle is not going anywhere.

The photo was taken in the dog days of July on the campus of Kyoto University.

Parked in a covered mall of a somewhat dilapidated building not far from Marutamachi Dori, this is an ideal spot considering the amount of rain Kyoto has had of late.

We would wager a fair amount that that bike is still in the exact same place, a if a bit dustier.

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Cycling Kyoto University

自転車で京都大学時計台記念館

The Kyoto University Clock Tower is a towering symbol on what is often called the Berkeley (left-wing, public, a big stable of Nobel laureates) or Yale (the "number 2" university) of Japan.

The Tower was completed in 1925 and has stood guard over and been witness to many of the liberal university's great happenings.

The campus is by national university standards not large - as Kyodai president's are fond of pointing out - but it covers a huge chunk of real estate in the eastern area of Kyoto.

Many students therefore use bicycles to get around within the campus grounds.

For those in need of a nearby caffeine fix in an atmospheric cafe, Shinshindo is the place.

Information

Closed December 28 - January 3
Open daily 9 am - 9:30 pm

Clock Tower Contact

Tel: 075 753 2285

E-mail : kinenkan@mail.adm.kyoto-u.ac.jp


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Kyoto University Bell Tower

京都大学

Kyoto is a university town. In a city of 1.4 million, there are said to be more than 100,000 university students.

At the top of the proverbial heap is the former Imperial University, Kyoto University, followed by Doshisha and then Ritsumeikan.

Kyodai, as it is more commonly known, is unlike its slightly more prestigious rival Tokyo University (Todai) in several ways.

Mainly, it is much less conventional than Todai, which is the breeding ground for the ruling class.

Todai is straight-laced and establishment to the bone; Kyodai likes to think of itself as creative and able to think out of the box. There is large dose of truth in that assessment.

The bell tower pictured at right witnessed intense demonstrations in the 1960s. To this day, Kyoto police are not allowed to enter the campus without contacting and getting permission from the university.

Kyodai is located not far from the Kamo River or the museums in Okazaki.

Access

On Marutamachi, ride toward the mountains. The campus is at the Hyakumanben corner about 5 minutes from the Kamo River.



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