Umino’s memories of his alma mater, Otani University (1)

Thank you for your hard works!

This is Umino.

It is still hot and humid in August, how is everyone doing?

Many students are probably enjoying their summer vacation!
Umino enjoyed summer vacation when I was a student, too. (Just lazing around every day … not a good way to enjoy summer vacation, is it?)

Well, I went to school in my hometown of Shiga until high school, but went to college in Kyoto.

Otani University

Private University located in Kita district in Kyoto City. I spent a fulfilled four years there.

The headquarters campus underwent a major overhaul a few years ago, so there are some very beautiful buildings, unlike when I attended the school.

I was interested in Japanese history at the time and wanted to study it in depth, so I searched for a university where I could study Japanese history in depth and finally chose Otani University (although there was a problem with my academic ability …lol).

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The closest station is Subway Karasuma Line “Kitaoji” station.

Since the university is located right next to the train station, it was very easy to get to without being affected by the weather (that was one of the deciding factors in my choice).

I entered the Department of History in the Faculty of Letters (at the time of 2007, now the Department of History). In my first year, I studied an overview of each history (Japanese, Eastern, and Western history), and in my second year, I chose a course to study in earnest and went to each seminar.
I was going to take the “Japanese History Course” with my friends in the same department, but the teacher of the “Introduction to Japanese History” course I took in my first year was very strict, and all my friends went to the “Oriental History Course” because I did not want to join that teacher’s seminar (the teacher of the “Introduction to Oriental History” was a kind man).

I supposed to enter Otani University to study Japanese history, but I was unexpectedly placed in a seminar on Oriental history (and for various reasons, I was placed in a seminar with a different professor than the one who taught “Introduction to Oriental History). But as it turned out, this choice turned out to be a very good one!

I was fortunate in that I did not have much knowledge of oriental history (mostly “Chinese history”), and the knowledge I gained was fresh and gave me a lot of pleasure. And with China’s long history, it was a very deep and very wonderful field of study that was worth learning (thank you very much, “Introduction to Japanese History” teacher! Lol).

During my senior year, I spent my time researching my thesis in the “General Laboratory”, which was located in the “Koru” building.

“Koru” building(there is library and museum and so on)

While struggling and suffering … with the help of my professors, seminar seniors, and fellow students … I managed to complete my graduation thesis. Regardless of how it turned out, it became something very important to me, filled with various feelings (… it was supposed to be … where did it go?).

Of course, there were many other memories of my student life at my alma mater besides my studies, but we will continue this story another time…

Thank you very much for reading it to the end. See you next time!

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Author

海野さざなみ(Umino Sazanami)
A "Awamijin" (Shiga Prefecture resident) suddenly appeared on the "Kyoto People's Blog.
He is a man in his 30s with a shaved head and glasses. His hobbies include reading, creative writing (novels), and cooking.