Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

was the first Director of Railways in Japan and is known as the "father of the Japanese railways".

Biography

He was born into the Chōshū clan at

Hagi, Yamaguchi is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, which was incorporated on July 1, 1932. As of May 31, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 50,179 and a population density of 71.80 of persons per km². The total area is 698.86 km². ...

, the son of Katsuyuki Inoue. He was briefly adopted into the Nomura family and became known as Nomura Yakichi, though he was later restored to the Inoue family. Masaru Inoue was brought up as the son of a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

belonging to the Chōshū fief. At 15, he entered the Nagasaki Naval Academy established by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

under the direction of a Dutch naval officer. In 1863, Inoue and four friends from the Chōshū clan stowed away on a vessel to the United Kingdom. He studied

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

and mining at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and returned to Japan in 1868. After working for the government as a technical officer supervising the mining industry, he was appointed Director of the Railway Board in 1871. Inoue played a leading role in Japan's railway planning and construction, including the construction of the Nakasendo Railway, the selection of the alternative route (Tokaido), and the proposals for future mainline railway networks. In 1891 Masaru Inoue founded Koiwai Farm with

Yanosuke Iwasaki was a Japanese banker, businessman, investor, and politician. He served as the 4th Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ). He was created a Baron in 1900; and he was a member of Japan's House of Peers. Notes References * Weston, Mark. (1999). ...

and Shin Onogi. After retirement from the government, Inoue founded

Kisha Seizo was a Japanese manufacturer of railway rolling stock that existed from 1896 to 1972. * 1896: Established by Masaru Inoue as the . * 1899: Factory opened in Osaka. * 1901: Merged with the , a coach and car maker in Tokyo. The two plants wer ...

Kaisha, the first locomotive manufacturer in Japan, becoming its first president in 1896. In 1909 he was appointed President of the Imperial Railway Association. He died of an illness in London in 1910, during an official visit on behalf of the Ministry of Railways.

Honors

Inoue and his friends later came to be known as the

Chōshū Five The were members of the Chōshū han of western Japan who travelled to England in 1863 to study at University College London. The five students were the first of many successive groups of Japanese students who travelled overseas in the late Bakum ...

. To commemorate their stay in London, two scholarships, known as the Inoue Masaru Scholarships, are available each session under the University College London 1863 Japan Scholarships scheme to enable University College students to study at a Japanese University. The value of the scholarships are £3000 each. Grave of Inoue Masaru

His tomb is in the triangular area of land where the

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

meets the

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 1964, ...

in Kita-

Shinagawa is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total are ...

Chōshū Five The were members of the Chōshū han of western Japan who travelled to England in 1863 to study at University College London. The five students were the first of many successive groups of Japanese students who travelled overseas in the late Bakum ...

These are the four other members of the "

": * Itō Shunsuke (later Itō Hirobumii) * Inoue Monta (later Inoue Kaoru) *

Yamao Yōzō Viscount was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who became an influential member of the Meiji era government of Japan. Early life Yamao was born in Aio-Futajima, a village in Chōshū domain (present day Yamaguchi prefecture), and receiv ...

who later studied engineering at the

Andersonian Institute The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, 1866-68 while working at the shipyards by day *

Endō Kinsuke was a Japanese statesman in the early Meiji period. Endō was born to a ''samurai'' family in Hagi, Chōshū Domain (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture. He was selected by the domain to be a member of the Chōshū Five who were smuggled out of J ...

References

* Yumiyo Yamamoto, "Inoue Masaru, 'Father' of the Japanese Railways", Ch. 2, ''Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits'', Volume One, 1994 ed.

Ian Nish Ian Hill Nish Order of the British Empire, CBE (3 June 1926 – 31 July 2022) was a British academic. A specialist in Japanese studies, he was Emeritus Professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science (L ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inoue, Masaru 1843 births 1910 deaths Japanese expatriates in the United Kingdom Meiji Restoration Members of the House of Peers (Japan) People of Meiji-period Japan Alumni of University College London People associated with University College London People from Yamaguchi Prefecture Kazoku Samurai Mōri retainers History of rail transport in Japan Japanese farmers Japanese people in rail transport

Biography

Honors

Chōshū Five The were members of the Chōshū han of western Japan who travelled to England in 1863 to study at University College London. The five students were the first of many successive groups of Japanese students who travelled overseas in the late Bakum ...

See also

References