Ministry of Public Works

This was the central government agency responsible for the policy of promoting industry in the early Meiji period. It was established in October 1870 (Meiji 3) with the purpose of "encouraging all kinds of craftsmen." It promoted government-run businesses in various fields, such as mining, ironmaking, shipbuilding, lighthouses, railways, and telegraphs, and also established the Engineering School (later the College of Engineering) and invited foreign teachers (the vice principal was an Englishman named Dyell) to transplant modern technology, train engineers, and develop modern industry. Successive Ministers of Public Works included Ito Hirobumi, Inoue Kaoru, and Yamada Akiyoshi. In 1880, the government decided on a policy to sell off government-run businesses, and around 1884, the sale of various Ministry of Public Works businesses, excluding railways and telegraphs, began, but the Ministry itself was abolished in December 1885 when the Cabinet system was established.

[Hideo Nagai]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治初年の殖産興業政策担当の中心的な官庁。1870年（明治3）閏(うるう)10月、「百工勧奨」を目的として設置。鉱山、製鉄、造船、灯台、鉄道、電信などの諸分野の官営事業を推進し、また工学寮（のち工部大学校）を設け外国人教師（教頭はイギリス人ダイエル）を招いて近代技術の移植、技術者の養成と近代産業の育成に努めた。工部卿(きょう)としては伊藤博文(ひろぶみ)、井上馨(かおる)、山田顕義(あきよし)などが歴任。80年に官営事業を払い下げる政府方針が決定され、84年ごろから鉄道、電信などを除く工部省諸事業の払下げが開始されたが、工部省自身も85年12月の内閣制度設立の際に廃止された。

［永井秀夫］

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