Alma Mater

Waseda’s anthem, Miyako no Seihoku (Northwest of the Capital), was composed for the school’s 25th anniversary in 1907.

First, proposals were collected from students, but in the absence of an outstanding entry among the 23 received, jury members Shoyo Tsubouchi and Hogetsu Shimamura asked poet and alumnus Gyofu Soma to write the lyrics. Gyofu penned the masterpiece over more than ten days of intense work, which was set to music by lecturer and composer Tetteki Togi. The anthem is famous across Japan for its lively and melodic composition, and was part of an historic episode involving Robert F. Kennedy.

1.

Northwest of City great and fair,
In the wood of Waseda,
Rise proudly high up in the air
Our old college dome and tower.

Our high-aspiring, cherished plan,
Fond ambitions, know ye not?
The torch of Progress in the van,
Glaring fire of freest thought;

The infinite Eternal Aim,
Careful, too, of present need.

How brightly onward, at its name,
See our steady ranks proceed!

Waseda, Waseda, Waseda, Waseda,
Waseda, Waseda, Waseda

2.

From east and west, from age to age,
All tides of civilization
In one huge whirlpool ever surge
Round this great island Nation.

Whose lofty mission are we not
Carrying on our shoulders strong,
Through hardships of the vast untrod,
Endless as we march along?

Yet soon our hoped Eternal Goal
May its gleaming shadow cast

And with its all-embracing soul
Illumine the World at last!

Waseda, Waseda, Waseda, Waseda,
Waseda, Waseda, Waseda

3.

And look on yonder wooded hill
Decked with evergreen, for there
We have our home for heart and will,
School, with kind maternal care!

Her students change from year to year,
Meet and part with youth’s delight,
Yet all alike we seek to share
These ideals and their light.

Come, let us sing in all accord,
And with raptures ring the air,

To praise the honored name aloud
of our Alma Mater dear!

Waseda, Waseda, Waseda, Waseda,
Waseda, Waseda, Waseda

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