News from the Waseda Neighbourhood:
Mr. Eiji Terasawa, President of Terasawa Electric Machinery Corporation

Mr. Eiji Terasawa

The Okuma Auditorium

Four bells which ring six times a day, as everyone knows.

This is the back side of the dial.

The Okuma Auditorium has been the Symbol of Waseda University since it was completed in 1927 (Showa 2). The 125 shaku (Japanese "foot"; 125 shaku is about 38 meters) high clock tower has a clock over 2 meters in diameter and four bells, which ring out the hours at Waseda. Eiji Terasawa, the President of Terasawa Electric Machinery Corporation, has engaged in has been responsible for their maintenance for many years. Including the time of his predecessor, the factory has been connected with Waseda University since before the war.

Mr. Terasawa checks the clocks and the bells once every month and overhauls them during the summer vacation of our University. He said, “We check, clean, oil, and check that the clock has the correct time." With only a few windows, the clock tower is like a steam bath inside the clock tower in summer. “I borrowed an electric fan, but it didn’t help.” On the other hand, it is tremendously cold inside the tower in winter. The gears of the clock hardly expand or contract, regardless of the big difference of temperature. “It’s so tough and thick. I’m sure it will keep running for hundreds of years.”

What if there's a problem with the dial of the clock outside the tower? “In that case, we have to go out onto the face of the tower to repair it. But there's seldom a problem, because it runs on a gear. I took off the hand once when I was overhauling. At that time, I broke a part of the dial. I stepped on it as I was going out of the tower because there is no other exit. But I was able to repair the broken part of the dial from inside.” It is a big job filled with danger, but “I’m OK even in high places!” Mr. Terusawa said with a smile.

Of course, accuracy is also needed for the work. “We once received a complaint that the sound of the bell was not good and there was something wrong with the reverberations. It turned out that there was a spring missing from the ringing mechanism. I tried various kinds springs on it, but they were all about 5mm short. The way the bells are hit and the quality of sound all depend on how the spring extends. I heard that the person who noticed it and pointed out was a musician.”

“The hands of the clock are still the original ones. They are wearing out and the back of one hand is a little broken. But that may be the good point of an old thing like this. The Tanzaku numerals are nice and the hands are also great. I think this clock tower is better than any other.”

Mr. Terasawa retired as the maintenance worker of the Okuma Auditorium clock tower in March of 2005. “I hardly work on clocks now. I think it better to leave the work to experts on clocks. The clock has to be kept functioning from now on, but I have only worked on it only for about ten years. It’s short, isn’t it? I felt I need to have others take over the work. Actually my son is poor at this type of work. ”

While the period and the people change, the hands of the clock continue to keep time and make history in Waseda.