, was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Rangaku ''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: , ), and by extension , is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Western technology and medicine in the period when the countr ...

scholar, and the architect of the fortress of

Goryōkaku is a star fort in the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. The fortress was completed in 1866. It was the main headquarters of the short-lived Republic of Ezo. History ''Goryōkaku'' was designed in 1855 by Takeda Ayasaburō, ...

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan 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 railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

. Takeda was born in the

Ōzu Domain 270px, Katō Yasuaki, final daimyō of Ōzu Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now western Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Ōzu Castle, and was ruled thr ...

(modern-day

Ōzu, Ehime is a Cities of Japan, Japanese city located in Nanyo, the region occupying the southern half of Ehime Prefecture. , the city had an estimated population of 40,723 in 19688 households and a population density of 94 persons per km2. The total area ...

) in 1827. He studied medicine, Western sciences (rangaku), navigation, military architecture. He was a student of

Ogata Kōan was a Japanese physician and rangaku scholar in late Edo period Japan, noted for establishing an academy which later developed into Osaka University. Many of his students subsequently played important roles in the Meiji Restoration and the west ...

and

Sakuma Shōzan (sometimes called Sakuma Zōzan; March22, 1811August12, 1864) was a Japanese politician and scholar of the Edo period. Biography Born Sakuma Kunitada, he was the son of a samurai and scholar and his wife , and a native of (or Shinano Provinc ...

. In 1854 he was ordered to the island of

to reinforce the military infrastructure. He built the fortresses of

and

Benten Daiba Benten Daiba(弁天台場)As described below, during the period of the original daiba and the reconstruction planning, it was officially called "Benten Misaki Daiba" or "Benten Zaki Daiba," while "Benten Daiba" is a colloquial name that became wi ...

between 1854 and 1866, using Dutch books on military architecture, and also established a school. He also practiced sailing with the ''Hakodate Maru'', one of Japan's first Western-style sailing ship, together with his students. He sailed to Russia with the ship, and engaged in some exchanges.

References

Takeda clan People from Ōzu, Ehime Boshin War People of the Meiji era 19th-century Japanese architects People of the Boshin War 1827 births 1880 deaths {{Japan-architect-stub