熊野寮広報局

Kumano Dormitory Public Relations Team

Kumano Dormitory of Kyoto University is a place governed by the will of its residents, grounded in a long-standing commitment to student self-governance.
Once, only Japanese male undergraduates were permitted to live here. Through sustained discussion and debate, this restriction was overturned, and the dormitory opened itself to people regardless of background or identity. When residents wished for greenery, they planted trees in the courtyard with their own hands.
Yet the environment surrounding Kumano Dormitory has grown increasingly severe.
Searches are conducted without the presentation of warrants. Decisions based on agreements with the university authorities have not been honored for many years. When abuses of power are questioned on campus, the police are summoned.
Still, we want to protect this place, Kumano Dormitory.
We do not want to lose the warmth that has been nurtured through self-governance.
For this reason, we have continued to resist, taking various forms of action. We have organized festivals that bring together students and local residents. We have acted on campus under the banner of resistance to authority. We have issued statements to make our voices heard. We have continued to struggle without yielding to repression imposed by power.
In the midst of this ongoing struggle, we decided to hold this photo exhibition.
Through these photographs, we invite you to see what we have thought, what we have sought to defend, and what kinds of decisions we have made — a record of the actions and choices that have shaped Kumano Dormitory up to this moment.