The Graduate School of Medicine held a ceremony and banquet to commemorate the completion of the Fundamental Medicine Memorial Hall and Faculty of Medicine Museum.
The Faculty of Medicine's dissection lecture room (formerly the dissection auditorium) is a single-story wooden structure (containing a hip roof with base tiles) built in 1902, which is designated as a historical building at Kyoto University. The building, out of use in recent years due to aging, was renovated for antiseismic and functional improvement and later opened as the Fundamental Medicine Memorial Hall and Faculty of Medicine Museum.
About 120 people involved in the project (including professors from the Graduate School of Medicine) were present at the ceremony commemorating the completion of renovation, which took place at the Memorial Hall. Following a speech by Dean Nagahiro Minato (Graduate School of Medicine), a congratulatory speech by former President Hiroo Imura (chairman of the Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation) and an introduction to exhibits by Professor Akio Koizumi (Graduate School of Medicine), former President Imura, former Dean Haruhiko Kikuchi (director, Kobe City Hospital Organization), Dean Minato, Executive Vice-President Michiaki Mishima (director of Kyoto University Hospital) and Vice-Dean Masatoshi Hagiwara participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion. After the ceremony, a commemorative banquet was held at Shiran Kaikan to celebrate the completion. Following speeches by Vice-Dean Hagiwara and former Dean Kikuchi, Professor Emeritus Hiroshi Hiai proposed a toast. During the banquet, a congratulatory video message from Director Terufumi Ohno (Kyoto University Museum) was shown. After participants enjoyed happy conversations, the event was closed on a successful note with words of gratitude from Executive Vice-President Mishima.
In his speech, Dean Minato thanked all those involved for their support and cooperation with regard to the opening of the Fundamental Medicine Memorial Hall and Faculty of Medicine Museum, expressing his hope that "today will mark the fresh start of a building in the long history of Kyoto University's Faculty of Medicine."
After the opening, the memorial hall will be used for lectures, events and public seminars. The museum, on the other hand, will serve as place for citizens and visitors (from inside and outside the university) to see exhibits focusing on the many historical materials that attest to the numerous contributions the Faculty of Medicine has made to Japanese and world medicine as well as health care for more than 110 years since its foundation in 1899 as Kyoto Imperial University's College of Medicine. Included among those materials are the publication of Kaitai Shinsho (one of the most precious books in the history of Japanese medicine) and Dr. Hideyo Noguchi's doctoral dissertation.
The museum will be open to the public by appointment only as soon as it is ready. Further information will appear on the Graduate School of Medicine's website.
 Ribbon-cutting ceremony |  Speech by Dean Minato |
 Inside of the memorial hall |  External view of the memorial hall |
