As a major landmark of Kunitachi City, Daigaku Street stretches south for two kilometers from Kunitachi Station to Yaho Station. Its impressive 44-meter width dates back to the early Showa era, when it was actually used as an airfield runway for planes flying to Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture. The name ‘Daigaku’ means ‘University,’ directly inspired by the presence of Hitotsubashi University.
SideStory:University Avenue Was Once an Airplane Runway!（「大学通りは滑走路だった。」）
ー広い大学通りは飛行機の滑走路でした。大正時代の後半、箱根土地開発株式会社（現・国土計画）はこの国立の他にも、当時軽井沢の別荘地分譲を手掛けていて、そのお客様に対するサービスとして、国立と軽井沢を結んで一日一回、飛行時間30分の定期航空路を開いていました。使用する飛行機は、陸軍から払い下げてもらった単葉機。その飛行機は箱根土地開発本社（現在の多摩信用金庫国立支店）の裏においてあり、谷保の子供にとっては羨望の的でした。
ーDid you know that the wide and beautiful University Avenue (Daigaku-dori) was originally designed to double as an airplane runway?
In the late Taisho era, the innovative Hakone-Tochi Development Company was simultaneously developing the high-class resort area of Karuizawa, alongside this new town of Kunitachi. As a premium and futuristic service for their wealthy clients, the company launched a daily scheduled flight connecting Kunitachi and Karuizawa, cutting the travel time down to just a 30-minute flight!
The aircraft they used was a vintage monoplane decommissioned and purchased from the Imperial Japanese Army. When it wasn’t soaring through the skies, the airplane was parked right behind the Hakone-Tochi headquarters (where the Kunitachi branch of the Tama Shinkin Bank stands today). For the local children of Yaho, this real-life flying machine parked right in their neighborhood was the ultimate object of envy and wonder.