Celebrating Freedom: Tokyo Tech Festival 2023 Marks First Unrestricted Event in Five Years
Tokyo Tech Festival 2023 was held successfully on Ookayama Campus on October 28 and 29. This was the first festival held without any restrictions in five years after the COVID-19 pandemic and a vicious typhoon that resulted in the cancellation of the festival in 2019.
Tokyo Tech Festival 2023 on Ookayama Campus
This year’s Tokyo Tech Festival theme was “chronicle,” which signified the community’s efforts to recall and appreciate the countless people and stories that made Tokyo Tech and the Tokyo Tech Festival what they are throughout the years. With the upcoming merger with Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) planned for 2024, the aim was also to create a new — and perhaps the final — page in the Tokyo Tech chronicle of memories.
Tokyo Tech Festival 2023 logo
And what a truly unforgettable weekend it was! Approximately 40,000 people attended the two-day festival, enjoying the various booths, performances, and events on Ookayama Campus. The recently crowdfunded LED display added a special touch to the outdoor stage, and for the first time ever, a Tokyo Tech Evening Festival was also held to entertain visitors.
Lab walk-ins and tours were organized for middle and high school students. Support and advice sessions were held for those planning to take university entrance exams. Flea markets, art exhibitions, collaborative projects with the local Ookayama shopping district, and other unique efforts helped to bring community members closer together.
Bustling drink and food stall area
Band performing for evening crowd
Comments from Tokyo Tech Festival 2023 committee president
Haruki Yagi
3rd year, Life Science and Technology
Tokyo Tech Festival 2023 was held successfully on October 28 and 29. Last year, the number of participants was limited due to the effects of COVID-19, but this year we were finally able to hold the annual festival without any restrictions for the first time in five years.
With the theme of this year’s festival, “chronicle,” we wanted to recall the various stories of people who gathered at Tokyo Tech and the Tokyo Tech Festival amidst a time of great change. We wanted to reflect on the history of Tokyo Tech and make this festival a new page in the Tokyo Tech chronicle, a new page in the memories of the festival visitors. We were blessed with fine weather on both days, and we felt the success of our work across the campus. We hope that Tokyo Tech Festival 2023, which was the result of accumulated efforts from previous festivals, will be etched as a cherished memory in the minds of many people.
This event would not have been possible without the cooperation of countless people, including the festival visitors, participating student clubs and laboratories who brought the festival to life in their unique ways, Tokyo Tech alumni and alumnae who offered their tireless support, executive board members and faculty members, cooperating businesses, collaborators from the Ookayama shopping district, and of course, the local community. A big thank-you to you all for making Tokyo Tech Festival 2023 a great success!
Amid great changes, the festival will continue to forge ahead with great strides, and we look forward to everyone’s support in the years to come.
As the planned integration between Tokyo Tech and TMDU draws closer, this may well have been the final student-run festival that goes by the name of “Tokyo Tech Festival.” The Tokyo Tech community would like to thank all the people who made each festival a success throughout the years.