Samuel Cocking (19 March 1845 in Camberwell

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

– 26 February 1914 in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

, Japan) was a merchant in

arriving in 1869, shortly after the “Opening of Japan”. Although he was born in London, he moved with his parents to Australia at a young age and grew up mostly in Melbourne. In Japan he is known for the large greenhouse () and

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s that he developed in

Enoshima is a small offshore island, about in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River which flows into the Sagami Bay of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Administratively, Enoshima is part of the mainland city of Fujisawa, and is linked to ...

that bears his name. However, a lot about his life and achievements are still not common knowledge in Japan. He married Miyata Riki in 1872. Although Cocking and Miyata Riki did not have any children of their own, they adopted Miyata Riki's niece after her mother died at a young age. Cocking is buried in the Miyata family plot in a Buddhist cemetery in Yokohama, which is unusual for foreigners living in Japan at that time. Most foreigners (including Cocking's younger sister Florence who died shortly after joining her brother in Japan) were interred at the well known and well researched foreigners cemetery in Yokohama. His company, “Cocking & Co” specialized in trading Japanese curios, art and antiques as well as importing chemicals, drugs, scientific and laboratory apparatus. He imported

carbolic acid Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromaticity, aromatic organic compound with the molecular chemical formula, formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatility (chemistry), volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () ...

(phenol) which was used as a disinfectant, particularly against cholera. It is noted during one cholera outbreak he distributed his stock of carbolic acid free of charge. He exported peppermint oil – refined from peppermint grown in Yamagata prefecture. He is credited for introducing soap, bicycles, the electric lightbulb to Japan. He was also heavily involved in the fledgling photographic industry in Japan, importing photographic materials and chemicals and organizing the first photographic society in Japan. He also helped the foundation of Konishi Honten, a photographic store that would become

Konica was a Japanese manufacturer of, among other products, film, film cameras, camera accessories, photographic and photo-processing equipment, photocopiers, fax machines and laser printers, founded in 1873. The company merged with Japanese peer M ...

. In 1880, he purchased (in his wife’s name) the

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

s, including derelict

Buddhist shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they are v ...

s, on the island of Enoshima and began building the

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

s and a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

. The State Shinto 'Abolish the Buddha. Destroy Sakyamuni' policy Haibutsu kishaku (廃仏毀釈) of the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

had made the land available. It was during the years of anti-Buddhist sentiment in Japan that Cocking was heavily involved in the Japanese

curio Curio may refer to: Objects *Bric-à-brac, lesser objets d'art for display * Cabinet of curiosities, a room-sized collection or exhibit of curios or curiosities *Collectables *Curio cabinet, a cabinet constructed for the display of curios People ...

s trade. One famous incident involved Cocking being offered the

Kamakura Daibutsu is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kama ...

for 'a song'. He refused to buy the Daibutsu – no doubt feeling it had too much cultural importance to Japan and should remain in the country. In 1887, he added a

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an el ...

(which was later the origin of the Yokohama Cooperative Electric Light Company). His garden is now operated by the city of Fujisawa as the

Samuel Cocking Garden The , also known as the Enoshima Tropical Plants Garden, is a small botanical garden on the small island of Enoshima in Japan. The address is 2-3-28 Enoshima, Fujisawa, Kanagawa. The garden was established in 1880 by British merchant Samuel Cocki ...

renamed after remains of Cocking's greenhouse were rediscovered during renovation work on the lighthouse and gardens.

External links

Enoshima Jinja ShrineSamuel Cocking and the Rise of Japanese Photography by Dr Luke Gartlan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cocking, Samuel British expatriates in Japan Irish emigrants to Japan 1842 births 1914 deaths 19th-century Irish people People from Camberwell Businesspeople from London 19th-century English businesspeople