Official
180 years of birth! In honor of Thomas Wartors' achievements
Hello. It's Hanes.
2022 is the 180th anniversary of the birth of the designer Thomas James Wartors of Ginza Brick Street.
Born in 1842 in Bar in Ofarley, Ireland (at that time, Parsons Town), he later came to Japan and worked extensively in Kagoshima, Amami Oshima Island, Osaka, and Tokyo, from surveying, buying and selling and managing land to road and water supply maintenance and building construction.
At the time of Ginza brick street construction in 1872, which is most known for his achievement, he was 30 years old.
It can be said that at the turning point of the times, the benefits that Japan received from him as young were very great.
Reproduced and restored bricks and gas lamps
When he was born, Ireland was under the control of U.K.
For this reason, it is true that he is described as "British" and "British" in Japanese literature and historical sites, and is hardly recognized as "from Ireland."
According to the Ginza Society of Cultural History, Dutch accents were the mainstream in the architectural world of Meiji period.
Therefore, it is still popular as "Waters" instead of "Waters" in English.
Even if you take the country and name you were born, you can see that it has been greatly influenced by the times.
This time, I would like to celebrate the 180th anniversary of birth and dig deeper into the achievements of Wartors in Chuo-ku.
Japan's first Western-style paper company, Aritsunesha
Aritsunesha is Japan's first Western-style papermaking company established in 1872 in Nihonbashi-ku (near Suitengu) by the former Hiroshima clan Asano family head Nagakoto Asano.
He was recommended for the business by Wartors, who had already sold paper in Ginza and Yokohama, and introduced Sugii.
The reason for choosing near Suitengu as the construction site for the paper mill was that because the surrounding area was a former samurai area and there were few private houses, it was judged that the smoke emitted from the chimney and the noise of machine operation could minimize inconvenience to the neighborhood.
Suitengu Shrine around 1900 (Source: Meiji and Taisho eras in Photos-From the Photo Book of the National Diet Library-Suitengu, expiration of protection period)
At the time of the establishment of Aritsune, Wartors designed, constructed, and supervised a two-story brick factory, procured and maintained papermaking machines, and arranged for papermaking technology leaders.
It is clear that his younger brother Albert Wartors was also involved in it.
(Unfortunately, the factory was forced to relocate due to the revision of the city in 1906 and was closed.)
One year ahead of the establishment of Oji Paper's predecessor, the papermaking company, it is not well known that Wartors also contributed to the spread of modern Western-style papermaking technology.
Launched the first daily newspaper in Tokyo, Nipposha.
The time was 1873. The largest brick district building has been completed in the Ginza brick district maintained by Wartors.
There was Emi Suya, a kimono shop run by Shimada-gumi, a money exchanger and kimono dealer since the Edo period, but went bankrupt in 1874.
Nippo, which launched the first daily newspaper in Tokyo in 1872, the first daily newspaper in Tokyo, has been relocated to the brick building.
Nippo expanded from Asakusa to Ginza 2-chome in 1874, but moved to this large building because the number of copies became too small.
Ginza Kaido (Source: Meiji / Taisho era in photos-From the National Diet Library Photo Book-Ginza Kaido, expiration of protection period)
Even after the brick street was completed, many people prefer traditional wooden houses and refrained from moving in due to moisture and rain leaks, but kimono shops and newspaper companies may have set up shops and companies in brick street, a symbol of Civilization and enlightenment in Japan.
In particular, the fact that newspapers can move into the largest brick house in the brick street makes you feel the beginning of a new era.
Where is Wartors' residence?
Finally, noteworthy is the location of Wartors' residence, which greatly contributed to the creation of the city in Ginza at the time.
In Akashicho, there is a stone monument showing the remains of the residence of the British doctor and missionary Henry Falls who discovered that fingerprints can be used for personal recognition, but unfortunately there is no one that shows Wartors' residence in the city. Hmm.
So, are there any records that can serve as clues to his place of residence?
Bricks recreated in French as they were at the time
According to a survey and research by the Ginza Society of Cultural History, "Meiji Industrial History" records that the government building of Wartors was completed in 1870 in Kibori-cho.
In front of the Ginza Fire, there was a government building at 3-chome Kibikicho, and it is said that Yuri Fair and other leading actors at the time lived around it.
From such a surrounding environment, it can be guessed how much Wartors was an expected foreigner.
There are various theories about the specific place of residence, so if you are worried about your consideration, please see pages 114 to 115 of "After the Mysterious Hired Foreigner Wartors-Before and After Ginza Brick Street".
Yeah
In this article, we have briefly introduced the achievements of Wartors in the paper field, the use of houses in brick streets, and the residence of Wartors.
I was surprised to know that he was very involved in Japan's first Western-style paper company, and I was able to learn about the specific residents and uses of the houses in Ginza Brick Street, which led to learning.
This time I omitted the details, but there are several interesting records of his place of residence at the time.
In the future, I would like to find out from various angles if I can't get any information about my life in Wooden Town in Wartors.
180 years after the birth of Wartors, 150 years after Ginza brick streetwear.
The cityscape of Ginza has changed drastically, but the remnants of the brick cityscape realized by foreign workers who once came from distant island countries can still be seen in the Ginza and Kyobashi areas.
References and Websites
[References]
Tetsunori Iwashita, "Dictionary for Foreign People in Japan in the Edo Period", Tokyodo Publishing, 2011.
Ginza Cultural History Society "The Mystery Employment Foreigners Follow the Wartors-Ginza Brick Street Before and after Footprints" Ginza Cultural History Society, 2017.
Wajiro Kon, Kenjiro Maeda, Iwao Yamawaki, Michiko, Bunzo Yamaguchi "The 3rd Shiseido Gallery and Its Artists Ginza Modern and Urban Design" Shiseido Corporate Culture Department, 1993.
Chuo-ku Tourism Association edition "Chuo-ku Monoshiri Encyclopedia for Walking" JTB Communication Design, 2017.
[Reference Website]
Ginza Motoji "Edo and Meiji people were flooded! ? https://www.motoji.co.jp/blogs/reading/bargain_sale202107 (revised on September 5, 2022).
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Real Estate “Ginza in the Meiji Period” https://smtrc.jp/town-archives/city/ginza/p02.html (viewed on September 5, 2022).