was a pioneer known for his contributions to the development of

Lake Towada is the largest crater lake in Honshū island, Japan. Located on the border between Aomori and Akita prefectures, it lies 400 meters (1,800 ft) above sea level and is 327 m (1,073 ft) deep, drained by the Oirase river. With a s ...

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...

Biography

Wainai was born in what is now

Kazuno, Akita is a cities of Japan, city located in Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 30.715, and a population density of 43 persons per km² in 12.970 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Kazuno is located i ...

in 1858. He initially began his career in 1881 in the mining industry, then the backbone of Kazuno's economy, working at Kosaka Mines, which worked

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

deposits at the shore of

. At the time, Lake Towada was largely sterile, and the 2500 mine workers had to subsist on dried fish from town. Wainai worked as a guard on the water supply to the mines, and decided to ignore local folklore and superstition against stocking the lake with fish. Starting in 1884, Wainai attempted to introduce 600

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

fry into Lake Towada. The effort failed, but persevering in the face of multiple setbacks and failures to the extent that he was forced to sell his personal belongings to continue the effort, Wainai finally succeeded in 1903 after a majority of

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

fry he had released two years earlier survived. Wainai continued his efforts in following years, establishing a hatchery to attempt to introduce other varieties of fish as well. Today, thanks to Wainai's efforts, and many other species flourish in Lake Towada, making it a very popular fishing spot. Wainai also opened the Wainai Towadako Hotel in 1916 and is also known for promoting Lake Towada as one of the top

tourist destination A tourist attraction is a place of interest that Tourism, tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of ...

s in

Tōhoku Region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

. He led legal efforts to preserve the lake and its surrounding natural environment, which eventually resulted in the proclamation of Towada National Park in 1936. After his death in 1922, Wainai's spirit was enshrined in the Wainai Jinja, a

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

located in Kosaka, Akita near the lake in acknowledgment for his works.

References

*Gavin, Masako. Shiga Shigetaka 1863-1927: The Forgotten Enlightener. RoutledgeCurzon (2001).

External links

Pioneers in Akita
{{Authority control People from Kazuno, Akita People of Meiji-period Japan 1858 births 1922 deaths Deified Japanese people