Foundation of the School of Medicine and Establishment of "Keio Medicine"

1917 School of Medicine established. In April, premedical courses begin at Mita.
In 1916 Keio decides to establish the School of Medicine, and receives permission from the Ministry of Education after announcing the Charter for the School of Medicine and Chemistry. Dr. Kitasato, describing Fukuzawa's never-ending support as being "beyond that given to his pupils, though I was not one of them," makes great efforts as Hospital Director and first Dean of the School of Medicine.
1917 In November, Keio purchases army land at Shinanomachi, Yotsuya ward (now Shinjuku ward).
1918 Original Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care established.
1919 An opening ceremony held for School of Medicine first year students in the new school building at the Yotsuya (now Shinanomachi) Campus.
1920 Keio University accredited by the Japanese government as one of the first private universities.
University Hospital and School of Medicine opening ceremony held on November 6. The first general meeting of Keio Medical Society held November 8. Keio Igaku, the journal of the Keio Medical Society, first published in 1921.
Keio University Hospital, a two-story wooden building equipped with 196 patients rooms and about 400 beds, said to be the best in Japan. The hospital offers comprehensive medical care by maintaining close communication between departments (internal medicine, surgery, orthopedics, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, dermatology and urology, otorhinolaryngology, psychiatry, physiotherapy and dentistry). Department consultation rooms and wards named after the classical ordering of the Japanese hiragana syllabary, such as い (i), ろ (ro) , は (ha), に (ni) , ほ (ho) and と (to).
1922 Sanba Yoseijo, a training school for midwives, established.
1923 The Great Kanto Earthquake occurs. Even before receiving orders to do so, doctors, staff and students step forward to begin relief work and start extinguishing fires. Taking on all diagnoses and treatments, they handle more than 324,000 patients on behalf of 9 hospitals damaged in the earthquake.
1924 University Hospital Special Ward completed.
1926 Institute of Diet and Nutrition established. (Closed 1990)
The Institute of Diet and Nutrition building constructed thanks to the generosity of business leaders. Clinical bacteriology labs concurrently established, fostering collaboration between the basic and clinical medicine departments. In 1933, Department of Nutrition and Diet established to implement the fruits of the institute's research and leads to the first patient meal services in Japanese hospitals.
1928 A charnel house built at Tama Reien Cemetery to properly honor and bury each of the donors who gifted their bodies to further medical research. First memorial ceremony to honor the donors held at Zojo-ji temple in Shiba, Tokyo.
1929 Building for Preventive Medicine & Public Health (Institute of Preventive Medicine) completed thanks to donations from the Rockefeller Foundation.
1932 Sanshikai, the School of Medicine Alumni Association, establishes Akakura-Sanso Lodge at Shin-Akakura hot spring area in Niigata Prefecture. (Burnt down in 1960, rebuilt in 1994.)
1932 University Hospital Annex completed. The four-story reinforced concrete building includes a basement floor and houses 219 beds.
1934 Yukichi Fukuzawa Centennial
Hiyoshi Campus opens.
1936 Second Building at the Hiyoshi Campus completed. School of Medicine classes begin at the Hiyoshi Campus.
1937 Kitasato Memorial Medical Library completed.
Dr. Shibasaburo Kitasato passes away on June 13, 1931. To honor his life and works, Kitasato Memorial Medical Library constructed using donations from his peers and pupils.
1937 Pharmaceutical Institute established.
The institute focuses on the research and creation of drugs and medicines. (Abolished in 1997 and merged with the Institute for Advanced Medical Research.)
1941 Tsukigase Hot Spring Treatment Institute established. (Closed in 1958 due to damage from Super Typhoon Ida.)