Saito Mankichi - Saito Mankichi

Japanese: 斎藤万吉 - さいとう・まんきち

Year of death: September 2, 1914
Year of birth: Bunkyu 2.3.6 (1862.4.4)
Agricultural scientist of the Meiji and Taisho periods. Born in Hojodani, Mutsu Nihonmatsu (Nihonmatsu City) as the eldest son of Nihonmatsu feudal lord Naoharu (family stipend of 250 koku). He moved to Tokyo in 1877 and graduated from Komaba Agricultural School in 1880. After returning to his hometown, he served as assistant professor at Fukushima Prefecture Koriyama Agricultural School and head of the Fukushima Prefecture Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1890, he moved to Tokyo again to study at the German Society School. He then became an assistant professor at the Tokyo Imperial University Agricultural College, and in 1907 became an engineer at the Agricultural Experiment Station of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, serving as head of the Seeds Department and head of the Reporting Section. In 1903, he became a council member of the Central Hotoku Association. Wearing straw sandals and gaiters, he worked hard to investigate the actual agricultural conditions in various regions, but died suddenly of illness at the age of 53. During this time, he criticized the imitation of Western agriculture, and advocated the protection and development of small-scale farming by combining grain farming with intensive farming (sericulture and other activities) as the foundation of farming. He is considered the founder of agricultural management in Japan. <Works> "Practical Economic Agricultural Guidelines", "Rural Management Guidance", "Development of Rural Areas", "Economic Changes in Japanese Agriculture" <References> Toshiyuki Toya, "Establishment of Agricultural Management in the Early Meiji Period" (Rural Studies No. 41), Hiroshi Nomura, "Saito Mankichi's Farm Economic Survey" (Annual Statistics on Agricultural Economy No. 3)

(Teisaku Hayama)

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

Japanese:

没年：大正3.9.2(1914)
生年：文久2.3.6(1862.4.4)
明治大正期の農学者。二本松藩士直温(家禄250石)の長男として陸奥二本松北条谷(二本松市)に生まれる。明治10(1877)年上京,13年駒場農学校を卒業。帰郷して福島県郡山農学校助教授,同県農事試験場長などを歴任。23年再度上京して独逸協会学校に学ぶ。その後東京帝大農科大学乙科助教授を経て32年農商務省農事試験場技師となり種芸部長,報告課長を歴任。38年中央報徳会評議員。草鞋脚絆姿で各地の農業事情の実態調査に奔走していたが病気により53歳で急逝。その間,欧米農業の模倣を批判し,穀作経営を基幹にしてこれに集約経営(養蚕その他)を組み合わせ,小農経営を保護,育成することを説いた。わが国の農業経営学の創始者とされている。<著作>『実地経済農業指針』『農村経営指鍼』『農村の開発』『日本農業の経済的変遷』<参考文献>戸谷敏之「明治前期に於ける農業経営学の成立」(『農村研究』41号),野村浩士「斎藤万吉の農家経済調査」(『農業経済累年統計』3号)

(葉山禎作)

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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