Sano Tsunetami - Sano Tsunetami

A politician of the Meiji period, and the founder of the Japanese Red Cross. Born on December 28, 1822, as the fifth son of Saga feudal samurai Shimomura Mitsuyoshi, he was adopted by the feudal domain's physician Sano Tsuneyoshi. He studied medicine at the domain's school, Kodokan, and later acquired Dutch studies at Tekijuku in Osaka. After returning to the domain, he worked at the domain's Seirensha, manufacturing cannons and steamships. In 1867 (Keio 3), he was ordered by the domain to travel to Europe to inspect the Paris World's Fair.

In 1870 (Meiji 3), he was appointed Junior Secretary of the Ministry of War, and in the following year, 1871, he was transferred to the newly established Ministry of Public Works, where he was promoted to Chief Secretary. He worked hard to establish the new government's navy by purchasing foreign ships and teaching shipbuilding techniques, and also contributed to government policies that urgently required the introduction of Western industrial technology, such as the construction of lighthouses. When the Vienna World's Fair was held in 1873, he became Vice-President of the fair's secretariat under the Minister of Finance, Okuma Shigenobu, and successfully managed the fair on site. During the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877, he established the Hakuaisha Society, which cared for the wounded without distinction between friend and foe, and when the Hakuaisha Society became the Japanese Red Cross Society in 1887, he became its first president, and was also active in a wide range of social and cultural endeavors. When the government system was revised in 1880, he temporarily took over from Okuma as Minister of Finance, and also served as President of the Senate, Privy Councilor, and Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, maintaining a unique and enlightened position in a government dominated by the Satsuma-Choshu faction. He died on December 7, 1902.

[Tanaka Tokihiko]

"The Story of Tsunetami Sano" by Isoji Kitajima (1928, Sagano Nakamantaro) ▽ "The Founder of the Japanese Red Cross, Tsunetami Sano" by Ryuko Yoshikawa (2001, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治時代の政治家、日本赤十字事業の創始者。文政(ぶんせい)5年12月28日、佐賀藩士下村充贇(しもむらみつよし)の五男として生まれ、藩医佐野常徴(つねよし)の養子となる。藩校弘道館(こうどうかん)で医学を修め、のち大坂の適塾で蘭学(らんがく)を修得。帰藩後、藩の精煉社(せいれんしゃ)で大砲や蒸気船製造の任にあたる。1867年（慶応3）パリ万国博覧会視察のため藩命により渡欧。

　1870年（明治3）兵部少丞(ひょうぶしょうじょう)、翌1871年創設まもない工部省に転じ、大丞となる。外国艦船の購入や造船技術の伝習などに努めて新政府海軍の創設に尽力したほか、灯台建設など広く西洋工業技術の導入を急務とする政府の施策にも貢献した。1873年ウィーンで万国博覧会が開かれると大蔵卿(おおくらきょう)大隈重信(おおくましげのぶ)の下で同博覧会事務局副総裁となり、現地で運営にあたり成功。1877年西南戦争に際して博愛社(はくあいしゃ)を設立し、敵味方の区別なく負傷者の看護にあたらせ、1887年博愛社が日本赤十字社となると、初代社長となるなど、社会・文化事業面での活動も多岐にわたった。1880年の政府職制の改正に際し、大隈の後を襲って一時、大蔵卿に就任したほか、元老院議長、枢密顧問官、農商務相を歴任、薩長(さっちょう)閥の政府にあって開明的な独自の地位を保った。明治35年12月7日没。

［田中時彦］

『北島磯次著『佐野常民伝』（1928・佐賀野中萬太郎）』▽『吉川龍子著『日赤の創始者　佐野常民』（2001・吉川弘文館）』

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