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'ZAIKEN' - The Kagami Memorial Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology was established in 1938
using funds donated by Kouichirou Kagami and Yoshiyuki Kagami.
When the well-known business man, Koichiro Kagami, reached the mature age of seventy-seven in 1937 which
is an occasion to be celebrated in Japan, he donated three hundred thousand yen to Waseda University,
reflecting his desire to help public enter-prises. With this donated money, the Castings Research Laboratory
of Waseda university was established. The construction of the laboratory was commenced in October 1937 and
the opening ceremony was held on October 21, 1938.
The Kagami Memorial Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology is a research center devoted to
fundamental and applied research with frontier science materials. For this purpose, in 1988, the ZAIKEN
was reorganized from the Casting Research Laboratory which wasfounded in 1938 for studying high technology
materials (i.e.
cast materials in those days). Its goals are to serve as a research institute open to the wider society,
applying the fruits of basic materials-science research to foster the creation of new industries and contribute
to the establishment of a sustainable society. It specializes in research into materials such as structural materials,
functional materials, and electronic materials, and currently boasts around 40 researchers from both inside and outside
the university. >>Read More about the Institute