Prof. Keisuke Fujita, President and Founder of Fujita Health University, loved architecture and nature (see the picture of his study-room at the end of this blogpost). He also wanted the people at Fujita to feel good and be protected, and around many buildings he ordered decorations representing 忍冬藤 (nindou-fuji or nintou-fuji), the Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera Japonica). The Japanese 忍冬 means “winter enduring” and Prof. Fujita saw it as a symbol for—as according to Prof. Toshiharu Nagatsuas he often said—“When winter comes, spring is not far off.”
(according to this [link]:) 忍冬藤 belongs to perennial semi-evergreen twining shrubs. It is not only grown as an ornamental plant but also is a common traditional Chinese medicine (for detoxification). Japanese honeysuckle bloom spring into summer, the flower color is white at the beginning, then gradually changes to yellow. The yellow and white flowers reflect each other in pairs, as mandarin duck to dance, so the plant is known as mandarin duck rattan in East Asian. The flowers are fragrant, and the bulbous berries retain dark color in autumn and winter.
(according to this [link]:) 忍冬藤 can also mean happiness and affection.
The leaves of 忍冬藤 grow in pairs, each leave in opposite direction. The flowers also grow in pairs and are found in the leave axils. The ornaments at Fujita depict this well.
At Fujita, outside there are two different kind of metal frames with 忍冬藤 ornaments. One is used as railing on top of concrete balustrades and found in buildings No. 4, 5, 6, 7, and the parking garage near the assembly hall (Figs. 5, 8, 9) and also in the metal doors of the student gate of the athletics field (Fig. 11). The other one has bigger leaves and is used in Fujita Hall 2000 (Fig. 2), the guest house (Figs. 6, 7), and the space between them. The white walls of Fujita Hall 2000 are also completely covered with 忍冬藤 ornaments (Figs. 2, 3), there are such ornaments around the pillars in front of this hall (see the header image of this blogpost), and also on the gate at the border of buildings No. 4 and No. 5. Furthermore, also inside Fujita Hall 2000 they can be found on the wall (Fig. 4) and apparently on its ceiling. On the wall and gates around the athletics field also many 忍冬藤 ornaments are found (Figs. 10, 11), with the motifs on the white walls being more abstract than the ones on Fujita Hall 2000.
(added later to this text:) Professor Shosuke Ito kindly provided me with translated excerpts of texts by Professor Fujita in “Kaku-ikasare-kaku-katariki” Vol. 2, 224-225, 1989, and, Vol. 6, 283-284, 1996. In addition to the above, there it explains that the 忍冬藤 ornaments carry the same philosophy of “be patient even if you feel a little cold” which is engraved in the “doll of patience” given to all the students at their graduation. The honeysuckle design originally came via Greece, Rome, the Silk Road, and China to Japan and was used widely including metal ornaments of the miniature shrine “Tamamushi-no-zushi” of the Horyuji temple. Prince Shotoku, a genius diplomat, liked this design very much and used it on many artistic works in the Asuka era (538-710).
It feels kind of special and magic that Prof. Fujita, who started this University, has us surrounded by ornaments representing 忍冬藤.
Figure 2. The outside of Fujita Hall 2000 has several types of 忍冬藤 ornaments. These two, but also the type found around the pillars as shown in the header image of this blogpost.
