Back cover

A munafuda is a wooden plate attached to a high place inside a building on which the name of the building and its owner, the completion date of the building framework and other information are written in ink. The boat-shaped munafuda shown in the picture was placed in the center of the roof truss of the Yasuda Auditorium whose framework was completed in 1924 (the Auditorium was then known as Tokyo Imperial University Auditorium). Characteristics of this munafuda include its printing of the invocations "tencho chikyu," which means that heaven and earth will last forever, "kokudo anon," which means that the nation is peaceful, and "gakuun ryusho," or academic prosperity—the last of which is particularly appropriate for a University building. Also printed are the names of then-President Yoshinao Kozai and Professor Yoshikazu Uchida (who would later become president); these individuals were the chairman and chief of the Design and Construction Committee, respectively. The name of Mr. Zenjiro Yasuda, who donated 11 million yen towards the building’s construction and whom the Auditorium is named after, is also featured on the plate. The construction of the Auditorium was contracted out to Shimizu Construction Ltd. The company is currently known as Shimizu Corporation, and the large-scale renovation of the Auditorium was managed by that same company in 2014. During this extensive renovation, the direction of the munafuda was changed and returned to its original state. This munafuda will surely watch over the Auditorium and the University of Tokyo for many years to come.