Bunkasai Japan
法政大学

Hosei University 🇫🇷

The campus behind the anime Golden Time, on a moat lined with cherry trees.

Hosei's towers rise beside the outer moat of Edo Castle, on a stretch where 730 cherry trees bloom every spring. Golden Time fans know the campus as Fukurai University. Historians know it as the school where a French jurist drafted Japan's first modern legal codes and taught its founders for free.

Hosei University Ichigaya campus buildings
Photo: Asturio Cantabrio / CC BY-SA 4.0 / source
Key facts
Nearest station
Ichigaya or Iidabashi (JR, Tokyo Metro), 10 min walk
Open in Google Maps ↗
Normal-day visits
Walk-in visitors are welcome during normal hours.
Photos
Outdoors is fine. Don't photograph students.
Festival
Jishu Hoseisai: Sat, Oct 31 – Tue, Nov 3
Festival details →
Hosei University ↗

Last updated: Sep 15, 2026

Why visit

  • The fictional Fukurai University in Golden Time is modeled on Hosei's Ichigaya campus.
  • Sotobori Park's 2 km of cherry trees along the old castle moat run past the campus.
  • Founded with the help of Gustave Boissonade, the French jurist who wrote Japan's first modern legal codes.

On screen & in print

  • Golden Time (light novel, anime 2013)Anime
    Fukurai University is Hosei in all but name, down to the entrance ceremony venue.
  • Yokomichi Yonosuke (film 2013)Film
    Shot on campus; the novel's author Shuichi Yoshida is a Hosei graduate.
  • citrus (anime 2018)Animefan-reported, not officially confirmed
    Commute scenes show Sotobori Park and Ichigaya Station near the campus.

History worth knowing

Gustave Boissonade (France)

The French legal scholar who drafted Japan's first modern codes taught the school's founders for years without pay. The tallest building on campus is Boissonade Tower.

Noh Theatre Research Institute

The Nogami Memorial institute holds about 40,000 items on Noh and Kyogen, with a digital archive.

Your country's connection

🇫🇷
France
Boissonade is celebrated as the school's founding mentor.

What to see on campus

  • Sotobori Park cherry blossoms free
    About 730 trees from Iidabashi to Yotsuya. Late March to early April, free.
  • Boissonade Tower free
    The ground floor is open to visitors during normal hours.
  • Nogami Memorial Noh Theatre Research Institute free
    Exhibitions have English captions; check opening days.

Nearby to combine

  • Kagurazaka: Stone-paved lanes and restaurants, a short walk from Iidabashi. 📍
  • Koishikawa Korakuen: Edo-period garden, about 10 minutes from Iidabashi. 📍

Visitor rules

  • Campus is open to walk-in visitors during normal hours.
  • The Ohara Institute reading room requires an advance reservation (researchers only).

Etiquette →

Plan your visit

🏨 Tokyo hotels on Rakuten Travel

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