Furukawa Hall Renovation and Utilization Project
Furukawa Hall is among eight buildings whose combined footprints covered approximately 5,000 m2, and whose construction was completed with funds donated by the Furukawa family in 1907. This improvement to educational facilities led to the elevation of Hokkaido University’s predecessor, Sapporo Agricultural College, to university status. All but one of these buildings were demolished in the beginning of Showa era; the only remaining building, Furukawa Hall, has been preserved as a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan. This project aims to restore the Hall, a precious gift to the University, to a condition that is as close as possible to its original condition, in order to preserve and utilize the hall as a symbol of the University’s ethos of diversity, equality, and inclusion as we move toward the future 150 years from now. After being renovated, under the key concept of “connecting people, time, relationships, dreams, and fruits,” the Hall will be used as a space for learning and relearning, with a focus on interpersonal ties, for co-creation activities arising from interactions among people of different backgrounds, and for exchanges that foster and promote ties with the local community.
Talent Development Project
The problems facing societies today are becoming increasingly complex worldwide, which makes it a challenge to solve them within specific areas of expertise. Solving these problems requires individuals with inquiring minds who can rise to the challenges at hand while envisioning a future society from a broader, deeper perspective. The Talent Development Project aims to create an educational environment that is conducive to the convergence of knowledge. People from diverse academic backgrounds, generations, and nationalities come together, come in contact with diverse values, and create new values. The project will then develop a program to cultivate individuals who will work towards the sustainability of local communities and the world, fostering the development of Innovation Front Runners for future society.
Editorial Project for Publications on the 150-Year History of Hokkaido University
This project is intended to compile and produce/release publications that address the 150-year history of Hokkaido University to commemorate the 150th anniversary.
- Hokkaido University: 150 Years of History
This publication will consist of six volumes: two that give a general introduction to the University, and four that consist of reference materials. The publication will cover the 150-year history of the University, with each volume containing 700–800 pages. - Photo Collection: Hokkaido University’s 150 Years
This publication will showcase the 150-year history of the University by compiling approximately 500 photographs. It will be published in time for the 150th anniversary celebration. - Student Booklet: Hokkaido University Students and the History of Hokkaido University (tentative title)
This booklet will be prepared for use as a student textbook in lectures on the history of the University. It will tentatively be distributed to incoming undergraduate students for a period of a few years, starting from AY 2026.
All these publications will be distributed to other national universities, archival institutions, libraries, and relevant local governments. We may also make the digital data of Publication #1 available online at websites such as the Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers (HUSCAP), and we may sell Publications #2 and #3 to the general public through Hokkaido University Press or the like.
These publications will be in Japanese.
This project is managed mainly by the Editorial Office for Hokkaido University’s 150-Year History. For details, visit the website of the office.
https://www.hokudai.ac.jp/bunsyo/hu150.html (In Japanese)