Meiji University Liberty Tower, University skyscraper in Surugadai, Japan
Meiji University Liberty Tower is a modern high-rise structure at the center of the Surugadai Campus, rising 23 stories above ground with 3 underground levels beneath. The building organizes different academic functions, with general education departments occupying lower floors and specialized graduate facilities distributed through the upper sections.
The tower opened in September 1998 as the centerpiece of a major campus renewal project marking the university's 120th anniversary, replacing multiple older structures across the site. This redevelopment initiative represented a significant modernization effort for the Surugadai location.
The hall on the 23rd floor is named Kishimoto Tatsuo Hall, after the university's first president, not "Kishimoto Tatsuo" as a personal name for the hall. It holds the relief from the former Memorial Hall's front entrance and stained glass designed by Tokio Manabe and made by Sanchi Ogawa, moved here when the old hall closed in November 1995.
The building is easily accessible from street level and provides open public areas in the lower floors, including an open atrium space. The underground levels connect directly to nearby train stations and streetcar lines, making arrival and departure convenient.
The ceramic mural 'Ode to Humanity' by potter Matsui Yasunari, a graduate of the university's literature faculty, is in the ground-floor Shikon Hall entrance, not in the Kishimoto Tatsuo Hall upstairs. The 23rd-floor hall instead holds the relief and stained glass (designed by Sakabe Tokio, made by Ogawa Sanchi) moved from the old Memorial Hall's main entrance.
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