Machimura Kinya ( Jap. 町村金弥, February 14, 1859 – November 25, 1944) was a Japanese entrepreneur, "the father of

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...

". Father of

Kingo Machimura was a Japanese politician who served as governor of Toyama Prefecture (1941–1943), governor of Niigata Prefecture (1945) and the second Governor of Hokkaido (1959–1971). He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He was a graduate of ...

, grandfather of

Nobutaka Machimura was a Japanese politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan and a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.Takefu is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 83,078 in 20.341 households and the population density of 360 persons per km². The total area of the city was . The modern city of Echizen was establis ...

(now part of Echizen in

Fukui Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the north, G ...

) as the eldest son of Machimura Orinojo, the ninth head of the Machimura family and a vassal of the Honda family. His father, Orinojo, served as a machi-bugyo and was considered an "honest and decent bushi," and after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

he taught children in the

terakoya were private educational institutions that taught reading and writing to the children of Japanese commoners during the Edo period. History The first ''terakoya'' made their appearance at the beginning of the 17th century, as a development from ...

. In 1867, at the age of 8, he entered the Fukui Princely School, and his father became a member of the ton'i wholesale

mosquito netting Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "lit ...

trade, a Takefu branded product, in Nihonbashi in Tokyo. In 1871, Kinya began attending night school to help his father in the trade.『北海道牛づくり百二十五年』37-55頁。 In 1873, in order to learn

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, Matimura entered the Aichi School of Foreign Languages, where he studied with

Tsubouchi Shōyō __NoTOC__ was a Japanese author, critic, playwright, translator, editor, educator, and professor at Waseda University. He has been referred to as a seminal figure in Japanese drama. "Wetmore deals cleanly with Japanese theatre as part of the mode ...

and Miyake Setsurei. In 1875, after graduation, he attended a preparatory course at the Imperial Technical College in Tokyo, where he was taught by an English teacher, Hamilton. In 1877 Kinya took the college entrance examination, but because of the

Satsuma Rebellion The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and b ...

, which increased military expenditures, the number of free places was cut in half, and Matimura could not afford the tuition. Around the same time, in 1876, the

Sapporo Agricultural College was a school in Sapporo, Hokkaidō established in September 1875 for the purpose of educating students in the agriculture industry. History The first president of the college was Zusho Hirotake. Dr. William Smith Clark, a graduate of Amhers ...

, founded by William S. Clark, was recruiting government-funded second-year students and those who had passed the technical college examination, so Kinya responded immediately. Together with 18 students, including Uchimura Kanzo,

Nitobe Inazō was a Japanese author, educator, agricultural economist, diplomat, politician, and Protestant Christian during the late Meiji era. Early life Nitobe was born in Morioka, Mutsu Province (present-day Iwate Prefecture). His father Nitobe J ...

, and Miyabe Kingo, sailed from

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 ...

on August 27, 1877, and on September 3 landed in

Otaru is a city and port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular to ...

, from where they headed to

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous cit ...

on horseback, arriving at the school dormitory near the present clock tower. During the four years of study at the agricultural school, all of the main teachers were Americans, so progress in learning English was considerable. Kinya also studied the American method of farm management under Edwin Dana, who worked for the Hokkaido Development Commission as an o-yata gaikokujin. In July 1881 he graduated from the Sappor Agricultural School. In the same year, he became manager of the Makomanai cattle farm. In 1890 he became head of a farm in Uryū. In 1897 he became head of the Tokachi Kaikon Farming Company. From 1901, Matimura served as a staff agricultural engineer in the Japanese Army Ministry and was in charge of the Combat Cavalry Reinforcement Division in

Kushiro is a city in Kushiro Subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. It serves as the subprefecture's capital and it is the most populated city in the eastern part of the island. Geography Mountains * Mount Oakan * Mount Meakan * Mount Akan ...

City and the prefectures of Iwate and

Fukushima may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture ** Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan ***Fukushima University, national university in Japan *** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...

. Kinya moved to Tokyo in 1910 and resigned from the War Ministry in 1916. For the next 10 years he served as mayor of Okubo (now Shinjuku district) and after leaving his post he lived a comfortable life, and during World War II he was evacuated to his hometown of Takefu, where he died at the age of 85.{{Cite web, url=http://www.city.echizen.lg.jp/office/090/030/shi-shi/machimura.jsp, title=町村金弥(まちむらきんや), website=city.takefu.fukui.jp, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311040907/http://www.city.echizen.lg.jp/office/090/030/shi-shi/machimura.jsp, archive-date=2007-03-11

Family

Wives, Yamamoto Soto and Yamamoto Kaoru, the third and second daughters of businessman Yamamoto Isen. The marriage produced five sons: Hirotaka, Makoto, Minoru, Keizo, Kingo, and five daughters: Koto, Sen, Sachiko, Haruko, Sadako.

References

1859 births 1944 deaths Japanese businesspeople 19th-century businesspeople People from Hokkaido 20th-century businesspeople Mayors of places in Japan