Do current students know how course registration used to take place? When I was a student, the word "network" had just begun to be used by specialists. Online registration and automatic registration using fill-in forms were unimaginable.

Just like today, back then classroom size was limited, meaning that not everyone who wanted to register for a course was able to do so. So how did we solve the problem of there being more students who wanted to take the course than the maximum number of registrants? The answer is a primitive but fair method. In other words, all the students of the same year got together, and a lottery was held.

If I remember correctly, here's how it happened. I was in the School of Economics, where there were over 800 students in one year. We sat in two classrooms (15-401 and 15-402). A member of the administrative staff sitting at the teacher's desk announced the name of a course, and a course registration card (which was like an attendance card) was collected. If there were more people who wanted to register than the maximum number of registrants, cards were drawn for the excess number of people, and the student number and name of unsuccessful candidates were read out. For courses that lots of people wanted to take, the students would feel quite a thrill. Each time a name was read out, people would sigh. When the final name was read, people would always break out into cheers. There were some "famous" students whose names were read over and over, and who would even be applauded. Although the administrative staff would make preparations for courses to be chosen by lottery based on past experience, cards had to be drawn one at a time, so course registration took several hours.

I was the strange type of person who purposely took courses that no one else wanted to, so I always watched the lottery feeling like it had nothing to do with me. On the day of course registration when I was a third year student, my dog had passed away right before I came to the classroom, where I sat silently. I still remember the faces of my friends who asked me "what's wrong?" with such concern.