Nagoya University Medical Library English


The Medical Museum of Nagoya University is located on the fourth floor of the Medical Library. It collects, preserves, and exhibits antique medical books, historical medical instruments, photographs and other items to promote understanding of the history of the Nagoya University School of Medicine in the context of the Tokai district and to look forward to the future of medical science. Parts of the collections can be accessed through the Digital Archive. Registration at the Medical Library counter is required for the actual use of these materials.


11. From war damage to revival



The School of Medicine before war damage


The School of Medicine after an air raid

The government, forced to increase the number of army doctors as the "Sino-Japanese War" escalated, established an army doctor crash-course in May of Showa year 14 (1939) for graduates of middle schools known as the "Provisional Affiliated Medical Division" attached to all Imperial University schools of medicine and national medical colleges. Because both the School and Division at Nagoya were established in that year, the Medical Division had difficulty securing classrooms and places to teach clinical practice, and so was obliged to request the cooperation of other hospitals in the city (later, the Rikuta Building was donated and remodeled as a branch hospital, becoming a space for clinical practice).
In Showa year 15 (1940), the School of Science and Engineering opened and two aeromedical courses were added to the School of Medicine. In this year, too, paper rationing began and the School's bulletin, "Gakuyu-jiho", which had been published continuously since Meiji year 33 (1900), was forced to suspend its activities.
In December, Showa year 16 (1941), Japan finally plunged into the Pacific War. Medical staff were called up to be army doctors one after another, and medical students were mobilized to various hospitals in the city. In March, Showa year 19 (1944), WANG Jingwei, head of the Nationalist Government in Nanjing, China, was secretly sent to the University's School of Medicine-affiliated Hospital for treatment. Calling him by the code name of the "Plum" patient under the control of the military, a medical team consisting of Professors SAITO, NAGURA, KATSUNUMA, TAMURA and MITSUYA provided his treatment. However, that November he died and his body was flown back to China.
In March of Showa year 20 (1945), when defeat already seemed a certainty, Nagoya was bombed intensively on three occasions by the United States Air Force. Two-thirds of the city was destroyed by fire; the School of Medicine lost 63% of its buildings and was almost completely destroyed, although luckily there were no victims among the admitted patients. In April of the following year, classes were suspended for a year in all schools nationwide except public elementary schools.
As Nagoya City's largest medical institution, the School-affiliated Hospital was unable to be evacuated, and the evacuation of Basic and Clinical Medicine classrooms was also progressing slowly. At the beginning of August, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and on August 15 the Emperor announced Japan's surrender on the radio to the entire country.
Directly after the War, members of each class tried to assemble in Tsurumai, but found the campus a heap of burnt rubble. At the end of Showa year 20 (1945), when lectures began on a small scale at the borrowed Showa-Jukudo, President SHIBUSAWA resigned. By the first popular vote held at the School, TAMURA was elected his successor, with TOKARI as dean of the School of Medicine, and SAITO as director of the Hospital. TAMURA set forth the "Tamura Plan" to establish humanities-related schools and the school of agriculture, beginning with the realization of the School of Letters and School of Law and Economics.
The School of Medicine's alumni association, Gakuyu-kai, raised funds for renewal costs by doing a nationwide pilgrimage from Showa years 22 to 25 (1947-1950), and classrooms and lecture rooms were rebuilt as temporary facilities using wood with mortar coating. The Hospital also began practice again, temporarily repairing the buildings left standing by the flames.
In Showa year 22 (1947), the title "Imperial" disappeared from the name of the University, which was re-launched according to the postwar framework when the education system was reformed in Showa year 24 (1949). After this, a 10-year plan was put in place for the School of Medicine and a five-year plan for the Hospital to construct new buildings, and to this day a full-scale redevelopment of the Tsurumai district is being carried out in order to cope with the rapid progress and challenges in medical research, education and clinical practice.

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名古屋大学附属図書館医学部分館 住所:〒466-8550 名古屋市昭和区鶴舞町65 Tel:052-744-2506 Fax:052-744-2511
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