The number of outdoor statues of foreigners (five) on the campus of the University of Tokyo might seem unusually high for a Japanese institution.

Still, the five foreign professors memorialized in bronze, Josiah Conder, Edward Divers, Charles West, Erwin Baelz and Julius Scriba, men who contributed significantly to the school and to the country, deserve the recognition.

All five spent many years in Japan. Conder, West and Scriba lived out their lives in Japan. Divers returned to England alone after living in Japan for 26 years. His British wife had died in Japan two years earlier. Baelz returned home to Germany with his Japanese wife after a stay of 29 years in Japan.