University of Tokyo, Hongō Campus

photo by Daniel L. Lu (user:dllu) · CC BY-SA 4.0

red gate of 1827, Important Cultural Property since 1931 (now closed to passage)

The Akamon, the red gate built in 1827 for the wedding of Maeda Nariyasu and Princess Yōhime, has been an Important Cultural Property since 14 December 1931 according to the official database of designated properties (1950, often cited, is only the year of the change in the law that reclassified the old kokuho en bloc). It has been closed to passage since 12 February 2021 because of earthquake risk, but you can see it from the avenue that leads to Yasuda Auditorium.

The main campus of the University of Tokyo, in Bunkyō, stands on the former residence of the Maeda, lords of the Kaga domain. The red gate, the Akamon (赤門), dates from 1827 and was built for the wedding of Maeda Nariyasu to Yōhime, daughter of the shōgun Tokugawa Ienari; it has been an Important Cultural Property since 1950. At the end of the avenue stands Yasuda Auditorium (安田講堂), begun in 1921, halted by the Kantō earthquake and finished on 6 July 1925 to a design by Uchida Yoshikazu and Kishida Hideto.

ℹ️ The common areas and outdoor spaces are also open to people who do not study here, from 7:00 to 18:00; groups of fifteen people or more register online at least seven days in advance. No one has been allowed through the Akamon since 12 February 2021, because of insufficient earthquake resistance, and as of September 2023 there was still no date for its reopening: you go in through the Itō Centre gate, open from 7:00 to 22:00. The university also runs free guided tours with students.

🚉 Nezu · 11 min walk

Sources: ani-tabi.com · youinjapan.net · u-tokyo.ac.jp · kunishitei.bunka.go.jp · online.bunka.go.jp · u-tokyo.ac.jp

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