Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.
Sanshiro's Visit to the University of Science
Hajime KAYANE (Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Science)
In Soseki's "Sanshiro," there is a scene in which Sanshiro, a student of literature at Tokyo Imperial University who has come to Tokyo from Kyushu, visits Nonomiya, a lecturer at the University of Science (now Faculty of Science). Sanshiro enters through the Yayoi Gate and goes to Nonomiya's laboratory in the Science University building. Nonomiya says, "At night, when traffic and other activities slow down, in this quiet, dark cave, I look through the telescope at that eyeball-like thing. Then I test the pressure of the rays of light. In summer it is relatively easy to bear, but on cold nights, it is very difficult to keep out, and even with a cloak and collar, it is cold and unbearable." Sanshiro was "surprised and struggled to get the gist of what kind of pressure the rays had and how that pressure would help.
University of Science: Photograph album "Tokyo Imperial University," 1900 edition.
(The University of Tokyo General Library)
Sanshiro" was taken in 1908, and the University of Science was located in the same place as the current Faculty of Science Building No. 1. The photo was probably taken from the area around the current Faculty of Engineering Building No. 2. The Yayoi Gate would be on the left. Nonomiya's laboratory was underground, and in the photo you can see a row of small windows near the ground for light. This building collapsed during the Great Kanto Earthquake, and the former Faculty of Science Building No. 1 was completed in 1923.
Soseki was told by Torahiko Terada, the model for Nonomiya, that such experiments were being conducted overseas, and he incorporated them into his novels. Torahiko Terada also appears in "I am a Cat" as a scientist named Mizushima Kangetsu, who "earnestly polishes glass balls. Both Nonomiya's and Kangetsu's experiments are full of things that the characters in "Sanshiro" and "Neko" have no idea what their usefulness is, but Soseki's eyes are kind.
Published in Faculty of Science News, March 2021