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Hisashige Tanaka
was a Japanese rangaku scholar, engineer and inventor during the Bakumatsu and early Meiji period in Japan. In 1875, he founded what became the Toshiba Corporation. He has been called the "Thomas Edison of Japan" or "Karakuri Giemon." Biography Tanaka was born in Kurume, Chikugo province (present-day Fukuoka prefecture) as the eldest son of a tortoise shell craftsman. Apprenticed at an early age, he was a gifted artisan. At the age of eight, he invented an inkstone case with a secret lock, which required a cord to be twisted in a certain manner to open it. At the age of 14, he had invented a loom capable of weaving intricate designs into fabric. From age 20 he began to make ''karakuri'' puppet dolls, autonomous dolls powered by springs, pneumatics and hydraulics, capable of relatively complex movements, which were much in demand by the aristocrats of Kyoto, ''daimyō'' in feudal domains, and by the Shōgun's court in Edo. At age 21, he was performing around the country a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurume, Fukuoka
is a Cities of Japan, city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 303,579 and a population density of 1,320 persons per km². The total area is 229.96 km². On February 5, 2005, the town of Kitano, Fukuoka, Kitano (from Mii District, Fukuoka, Mii District), the towns of Jōjima, Fukuoka, Jōjima and Mizuma, Fukuoka, Mizuma (both from Mizuma District, Fukuoka, Mizuma District), and the town of Tanushimaru, Fukuoka, Tanushimaru (from Ukiha District, Fukuoka, Ukiha District) were merged into Kurume. Geography Climate Kurume has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification, Köppen: ''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Kurume is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Kurume was on 13 August 2018; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pneumatics
Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air. Pneumatic systems used in industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located and electrically-powered compressor powers cylinders, air motors, pneumatic actuators, and other pneumatic devices. A pneumatic system controlled through manual or automatic solenoid valves is selected when it provides a lower cost, more flexible, or safer alternative to electric motors, and hydraulic actuators. Pneumatics also has applications in dentistry, construction, mining, and other areas. Gases used in pneumatic systems Pneumatic systems in fixed installations, such as factories, use compressed air because a sustainable supply can be made by compressing atmospheric air. The air usually has moisture removed, and a small quantity of oil is added at the compressor to prevent corrosion and lubricate mechanical components. Factory-plumb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The rise of the Russian Empire coincided with the decline of neighbouring rival powers: the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Qajar Iran, the Ottoman Empire, and Qing China. It also held colonies in North America between 1799 and 1867. Covering an area of approximately , it remains the third-largest empire in history, surpassed only by the British Empire and the Mongol Empire; it ruled over a population of 125.6 million people per the 1897 Russian census, which was the only census carried out during the entire imperial period. Owing to its geographic extent across three continents at its peak, it featured great ethnic, linguistic, religious, and economic diversity. From the 10th–17th centuries, the land ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transformed, by a connecting rod and crank, into rotational force for work. The term "steam engine" is generally applied only to reciprocating engines as just described, not to the steam turbine. Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separated from the combustion products. The ideal thermodynamic cycle used to analyze this process is called the Rankine cycle. In general usage, the term ''steam engine'' can refer to either complete steam plants (including boilers etc.), such as railway steam locomotives and portable engines, or may refer to the piston or turbine machinery alone, as in the beam engine and stationary steam engine. Although steam-driven devices were known as early as the aeolipile in the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomotive's boiler to the point where it becomes gaseous and its volume increases 1,700 times. Functionally, it is a steam engine on wheels. In most locomotives, the steam is admitted alternately to each end of its cylinders, in which pistons are mechanically connected to the locomotive's main wheels. Fuel and water supplies are usually carried with the locomotive, either on the locomotive itself or in a tender coupled to it. Variations in this general design include electrically-powered boilers, turbines in place of pistons, and using steam generated externally. Steam locomotives were first developed in the United Kingdom during the early 19th century and used for railway transport until the middle of the 20th century. Richard Trevithick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nabeshima Naomasa
was the 10th and final ''daimyō'' of Saga Domain in Hizen Province, Kyūshū, Japan. His honorary title was '' Hizen-no-Kami'', and he was occasionally referred to as “Prince Hizen” in western accounts during the Bakumatsu period. Biography Naomasa was born the 17th son of Nabeshima Narinao, the 9th ''daimyō'' of Saga Domain. His mother was a daughter of Ikeda Harumichi. His wife was the 18th daughter of ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Ienari, and one of his concubines was the 19th daughter of Tokugawa Narimasa. On the retirement of his father in 1830, Naomasa was appointed 10th ''daimyō'' of Saga at the age of 17. In celebration of his new role and to reinforce the close relations between Saga domain and the shogunate, his father-in-law Shōgun Tokugawa Ienari allowed him the use of one character from his name. Thus, "Narimasa" was written (斉正) until the end of the Edo period. Naomasa inherited a domain on the verge or bankruptcy, due to high expenses associated with its ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kyūshū
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands. Kyushu has a land area of and a population of 14,311,224 in 2018. In the 8th-century Taihō Code reforms, Dazaifu was established as a special administrative term for the region. Geography The island is mountainous, and Japan's most active volcano, Mount Aso at , is on Kyushu. There are many other signs of tectonic activity, including numerous areas of hot springs. The most famous of these are in Beppu, on the east shore, and around Mt. Aso in central Kyushu. The island is separated from Honshu by the Kanmon Straits. Being the nearest island to the Asian continent, historically it is the gateway to Japan. The total area is which makes it the 37th largest island in the world. It's slightly larger than Taiwan island . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sano Tsunetami
Count was a Japanese statesman and founder of the Japanese Red Cross Society. His son, Admiral Sano Tsuneha, was a leading figure in the establishment of the Scout Association of Japan. Biography Sano was born in Hayatsue, Saga Domain (present-day Saga city, Saga Prefecture) as the fifth son of the low ranking samurai Shimomura Saburōzaemon. In 1831 he was adopted by the physician Sano Tsuneyoshi and was allowed to study at the domain academy ''Kōdōkan''. He accompanied his step-father to Edo in 1837, where he studied Confucianism, but returned to Saga in 1839 to continue his medical education. In 1846, he was sent by the Nabeshima clan, rulers of Saga, to study ''rangaku'' (western learning) in Kyoto under Hirose Genkyō, and subsequently in Osaka under Ogata Kōan. He then returned to Edo in 1849 to study under Itō Gemboku, Totsuka Seikai, and others. In 1851, he returned to Saga to establish his own academy, which received official recognition from Nabeshima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonnō Jōi
was a ''yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sought to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and restore the power of the Emperor of Japan. Etymology During the Spring and Autumn period of China, Chancellor Guan Zhong of Qi initiated a policy known as ''Zunwang Rangyi'' (尊王攘夷 ; lit. "Revere the King, Expel the Barbarians"), in reference to the Zhou kings. Adopting and adhering to it, Duke Huan of Qi assembled the Chinese feudal lords to strike down the threat of barbarians from China. For it, Confucius himself praised Guan Zhong for the preservation of Chinese civilization through the example of the contrast in the hairstyles and clothing styles between them and barbaric peoples. Through the ''Analects'' of Confucius, the Chinese expression came to be transmitted to Japan as ''sonn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Important Cultural Properties Of Japan
An The term is often shortened into just is an item officially classified as Tangible Cultural Property by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs ( Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and judged to be of particular importance to the history, arts, and culture of the Japanese people. Classification of Cultural Properties To protect the cultural heritage of Japan, the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties was created as a under which important items are appropriated as Cultural Properties,In this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple, unofficial definition, e.g "Cultural Properties" as opposed to "cultural properties". thus imposing restrictions to their alteration, repair and export. Besides the "designation system", there exists a , which guarantees a lower level of protection and support to Registered Cultural Properties. Cultural Properties are classified according to their nature. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myriad Year Clock
The , was a universal clock designed by the Japanese inventor Hisashige Tanaka in 1851. It belongs to the category of Japanese clocks called ''Wadokei''. This clock is designated as an Important Cultural Property and a Mechanical Engineering Heritage by the Japanese government. The clock is driven by a spring. Once it is fully wound, it can work for one year without another winding. It can show the time in 7 ways (such as usual time, the day of the week, month, moon phase, Japanese time, Solar term). Since the time system in Japan at that time was temporal hour, a day was 12 hours, and a day was divided into day and night, and each divided into 6 equal parts was regarded as 1 hour. Because the length of the day and night changes according to the season, the time dial was automatically movable, and it was linked with the other six clocks, making it an extremely complicated mechanism. It also rings chimes every hour. It consists of more than 1,000 parts to realize these complex fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
