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Delicious food and hotel-style private rooms

SJC Student Staff
Yui Kotera, fourth-year student, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Rin Ohashi, second-year student, School of Law

Off to the Seminar House!

Take the JR Hokuriku/Joetsu Shinkansen from Tokyo Station, passing through Ueno Station, Omiya Station, and Kumagaya Station, and arrive at Honjo Waseda Station in about 45 minutes. Of the five Seminar Houses, this is the closest to the university. When you exit the ticket gate and take the south exit on your left, you'll find a sign with the familiar Waseda symbol! Right in front of the station is Waseda University's Honjo Campus. Follow the signs and go up a gentle slope.

By the way, on the other side of the station (north exit), there are large stores and restaurants such as Cainz, Beisia, Super Sports Xebio, and Tsutaya Bookstore. There are no convenience stores around the Seminar House, so it's a good idea to stop by if you need to buy anything.

(Top left) JR East Shinkansen "Honjo Waseda Station." A 10-minute drive away on the opposite side of Honjo Campus is JR Takasaki Line's "Honjo Station." (Right) Our guides for this trip, Yui Kotera (left) and Rin Ohashi (right). (Bottom left) The road and sidewalks have been improved to accommodate the school buses of Waseda University Honjo Senior High School, which is located on the same campus.

After a 10-minute walk along a path surrounded by lush trees, you will arrive at the Seminar House. Change into slippers at the entrance and place your shoes in the shoe locker. The manager, Yuko Akiyama, will greet you with a smile.

Please contact the Seminar House in advance if you are using a car. The vehicle gate is open from 5:00 to 22:30, and on days when Waseda University Honjo Senior High School has classes, entry is not permitted between 8:00 and 9:10. There are six parking spaces next to the Seminar House, and large buses can also be parked in other parking spaces.

(Top left) After climbing the gentle slope, the brown building on the left is the Seminar House. (Right) Yuko Akiyama, the caretaker. (Bottom left) The shoe locker at the entrance.

After changing into slippers, we headed to the dining room located right in front of the entrance. Here, we submitted the "ticket" we had received when we made a reservation in advance and completed other procedures, such as receiving our room key.

Left: A blackboard at the entrance to the dining hall. It lists meal times (breakfast 7:30-8:30, lunch 12:00-13:00, dinner 18:00-19:00) and curfew (22:00), as well as Wi-Fi passwords, linen handling, smoking bans on the premises, and notices like fireworks bans.
Right: In addition to selling toothbrushes (110 yen), face towels (110 yen), and detergent (55 yen), hair dryers and bug repellent are available for free rental. Payment is cash only.

The dining room is spacious with a high ceiling and skylights letting in natural light, creating a refreshing atmosphere. It can be used as a conversation space outside of meal times. One of the selling points of the Honjo Seminar House is that it has a ping-pong table. Apparently, people enjoy playing ping-pong before and after meals, or in their spare time.

Left: The cafeteria. There is a toilet in the back hallway, but there is also a hand washing area inside the cafeteria.
Right: August 2025, School of Creative Science and Engineering Masayuki Goto Laboratory at a seminar camp. The table tennis table is equipped with rackets and balls and can be used freely without reservation. There are also Go and Shogi 

The chef's hospitality and BBQ are also recommended.

Honjo Seminar House is particular about serving freshly cooked, hot food. For both breakfast and dinner, the head chef personally plates the main dish just before it is served. Communication during this process is also important, and the head chef says, "I want you to enjoy your meal in a warm atmosphere just like at home." A hidden popular menu item is miso soup, with ingredients that change daily, such as tofu and green onions, wakame seaweed and fried tofu, and clams, but what makes it unique is that it uses less miso and more dashi.

Left: Chef handing out food at the food service lane
Right: The menu is also posted, displaying the eight allergens, as well as 20 other ingredients that are allergens, such as pork, beef, and soy.

Left: An example of the breakfast menu. Grilled salted mackerel, rolled omelet with seaweed, bibimbap namul, dried daikon radish strips, clam miso soup, and yogurt (with blueberry sauce). On other days, a nutritionally balanced breakfast is served, including grilled salted salmon, sausages, and lotus root stir-fry.
Right: An example of the lunch menu. Sauce-flavored pork cutlet rice bowl, salad, clam miso soup, and grape jelly. On other days, they also serve curry rice, and in the summer, they also serve desserts such as sorbet.

Left: An example of a dinner menu. Japanese-style hamburger steak with grated daikon radish, simmered eggplant, spicy burdock root, clam miso soup, and milk mochi. When Western food is served, the soup may be egg soup, vegetable soup, etc.
Right: An example of the dinner menu. Chicken miso cutlet, grilled komatsuna and shiitake mushrooms, eggplant and green beans with ginger sauce, clam miso soup, and strawberry cake.

Left: "Itadakimasu!" (Let's eat!). As a special treat for the interview, we thoroughly enjoyed breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Right: Sauces, dressings, and seasonings are available to your liking

At Honjo Seminar House, you can also enjoy BBQ in the space next to the Seminar House. The meat is sourced from a meat specialist, so it's fresh, tender, and filling. Advance reservations are required, and a dedicated stove and ingredients are provided, making it convenient! We also recommend it for creating memories.

(Top left) The BBQ space next to the Seminar House. (Top right) A BBQ at dusk in September 2025 (e-learning Communication Research Group (ELC)). (Bottom) A BBQ during a training camp in August 2025 (Waseda University Cheerleaders FALCONS).

Relax in a private room with a bath and toilet

Up the stairs from the first floor where the dining hall is located, the second floor (21 rooms in total) and the third floor (11 rooms in total) are the accommodation floors. All rooms at Honjo Seminar House are single or double rooms, making it easy to spend time in a relaxed atmosphere.

All rooms are equipped with a bath and toilet. Hand soap, shampoo, and body soap are always provided in each room. All rooms also have a large refrigerator and plenty of electrical outlets. You can make calls to the manager's office as well as to each room from the in-room internal line (outside calls cannot be used), and of course there is Wi-Fi. However, towels and hair dryers are not provided, so please bring what you need. For details on other facilities, please check Student Affairs Section website.

The walls on the second and third floors are colorful and modern, with four different colors for each side: red, blue, yellow, and green.

Of the 32 rooms, 19 are double rooms. They are spacious and have plenty of storage space. The large refrigerator is good as well.

The remaining 13 rooms are single rooms. The three single rooms on the third floor have separate bathrooms and toilets. From the rooms on the north side (green walls), you can see Mount Akagi in Gunma Prefecture directly in front of you (top right). On the east side (red walls), there are also rooms where you can see cherry blossoms blooming right before your eyes in early spring.

Left: There is one universal design room on the first floor with no steps, so wheelchair users can stay there.
Right: There are two washing machines in the coin laundry on the basement floor. Detergent costs 55 yen per can and can be purchased at the cafeteria (cash only).

A full range of facilities for studying, exercise and music

The old school building has a nostalgic atmosphere

Honjo Campus is a vast site, and in addition to the university's research facilities, the campus is also home to the university's affiliated Waseda University Honjo Senior High School. The Honjo Seminar House 's facilities are mainly made up of the common classroom building of the old high school building, so it is well-equipped with three classrooms, a gymnasium, a soundproof room (music room), and two tennis courts. This is the only Seminar House where you can use a soundproof room! It is also conveniently located within a short walk of the Seminar House. Reservations are required for all use.

Left: Directly in front of the Seminar House, at a location near central to the Honjo Campus, stands a bust of founder Shigenobu Okuma alongside Waseda University's founding principles.
Right: The expansive Honjo Campus, covering approximately 860,000 square meters including the Asami Hills. Buildings are situated amidst beautiful natural surroundings. The Seminar House is visible in the distance. Descending the road in the foreground leads to Honjo Senior High School.

(Left) A classroom that retains the atmosphere of a high school. Each room is equipped with a projector and a screen. (Right) A seminar camp for Masayuki Goto's laboratory in August 2025.

The gymnasium is equipped with basketball, volleyball, badminton, and table tennis equipment. (Top right) A seminar training camp for Masayuki Goto's laboratory in August 2025. (Bottom) A training camp for the Waseda University cheerleaders, FALCONS, in August 2025. The mats are not gymnasium equipment but are owned by FALCONS.

Left: Soundproof room. There is also an empty equipment storehouse, so you can use the spacious space. Student clubs bring in not only their instruments but also amplifiers and speakers to practice.
Right: Two tennis courts. Rackets and balls can be rented at the Seminar House.

In front of the Waseda Research Park Communication Center (left), less than a five-minute walk from JR Honjo-Waseda Station. On the first floor is the Honjo-Waseda no Mori Museum (right).

Also, just a five-minute walk from JR Honjo Waseda Station is Marigold Hill Park, a photo spot with a spectacular view. As the name suggests, the marigolds that bloom in autumn are spectacular, and the best time to see them is October to November! You can enjoy different views with each season, with moss pinks in spring, sunflowers in summer, and illuminations in winter, so why not stop by on your way home and take a memorable photo?