Toshinojo Ueno

Japanese: 上野俊之丞 - うえの・としのじょう

Year of death: August 17, 1851 (September 12, 1851)
Year of birth: 1790.4.16
A Dutch scholar and engineer in the late Edo period. His given name was Tsuneashi. He also went by the pseudonyms Wakaryu, Chishinsai, and Sen'o. Born in Nagasaki, he worked as a clockmaker for the magistrate's office, producing clocks and other crafts, but in 1839 he handed over his position to his apprentice and began technical research into saltpeter manufacturing, setting up a saltpeter refinery and pharmaceutical manufacturing in his home. He also obtained a daguerreotype (silver plate) camera from a Dutchman and on June 1, 1849, successfully photographed Shimazu Nariakira, the heir to Shimazu Narioki, the lord of the Satsuma domain. This marked the beginning of June 1 as Photography Memorial Day. He left his mark in a wide range of fields, including natural sciences such as astronomy and geography, industrial arts, and research into firearms and gunpowder.

(Tokoro Shokichi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：嘉永4.8.17(1851.9.12)
生年：寛政2.3.3(1790.4.16)
江戸後期の蘭学者,技術者。諱は常足。若竜,知新斎,潜翁と号した。長崎に生まれ,奉行所の御用時計師として時計その他の細工物を製作していたが,天保10(1839)年御用時計師の職を弟子に譲ったのち,硝石製法の技術的研究に着手し,自宅内に蘭方薬ならびに硝石製煉所を設けて製薬を開始した。またオランダ人からダゲレオタイプ(銀板)の写真機を入手して,天保12年6月1日に薩摩藩主島津斉興の世子斉彬の撮影に成功。6月1日を写真記念日とするのはこれに始まる。天文,地理などの自然科学や工芸技術,さらに鉄砲や火薬の研究など広範な領域に足跡を残している。

(所荘吉)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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