Noriyoshi Akamatsu

A naval engineer and vice admiral during the Meiji and Taisho periods. He was the second son of the shogunate official Yoshizawa Yunoshin, and was commonly known as Daizaburo. He later took on the family name of his grandfather, Akamatsu. He studied Dutch studies at Tsuboi Shindo's school, and received training in navigation and other subjects at the Nagasaki Naval Training School, and worked at a warship training center and other facilities. In 1860 (Man'en 1), he traveled to America as an officer aboard the Kanrin Maru, and in 1862 (Bunkyu 2), he was ordered to study in the Netherlands along with Uchida Tsunejiro (Masao) (1839-1876), Enomoto Kamajiro (Takeaki), and Nishi Shusuke (Amane), and returned to Japan in 1868 (Keio 4). However, the shogunate had collapsed, so he followed the Tokugawa family to Numazu, where he founded the Numazu Military Academy with Nishi Amane and taught there. He joined the Ministry of War in 1870 (Meiji 3), and thereafter worked in the navy, working on shipbuilding, establishing naval bases, and maintenance, and successively held positions such as director of the Yokosuka Shipyard, director of the Main Ship Bureau, and commander-in-chief of the Sasebo and Yokosuka Naval Bases. In 1870, he published Japan's first paper on life insurance, and was involved in the editing of mathematics textbooks, making him an active promoter of mathematics in the early Meiji period.

[Toshihiko Kikuchi]

Akamatsu Norikazu (ed. and annotated), Akamatsu Norikazu's Life Story: A Record of Studying in the Netherlands in the Late Tokugawa Period (Heibonsha, Toyo Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治・大正期の造船技術者、海軍中将。幕臣吉沢雄之進の次男で、通称は大三郎。のち実祖父の家を継ぎ赤松姓となった。坪井信道(つぼいしんどう)の塾で蘭学(らんがく)を修め、長崎海軍伝習所で航海術その他の伝習を受け、軍艦操練所などに勤務した。1860年（万延1）士官として咸臨丸(かんりんまる)に乗り組みアメリカに渡り、1862年（文久2）には内田恒次郎（正雄）（1839―1876）、榎本釜次郎(えのもとかまじろう)（武揚(たけあき)）、西周助（周(あまね)）らとともにオランダ留学を命ぜられ、造船術を学んで1868年（慶応4）帰国した。しかし幕府は崩壊しており、徳川家に従って沼津に移り、西周と沼津兵学校の創設とその教育にあたった。1870年（明治3）より兵部(ひょうぶ)省に出仕、以後海軍にあって造船や鎮守府(ちんじゅふ)の設定、整備などに活躍し、横須賀造船所長、主船局長や佐世保、横須賀鎮守府司令長官などを歴任した。1870年日本初の生命保険に関する論文を発表したり、数学教科書の編集に関与するなど、明治初期には数学の啓蒙(けいもう)の面でも活躍した。

［菊池俊彦］

『赤松範一編註『赤松則良半生談――幕末オランダ留学の記録』（平凡社・東洋文庫）』

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