Report
On January 19, 2018, Professor Naofumi Nakamura, Senior Associate Director of the Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo, gave a talk entitled "Diversification and Convergence: The Development of locomotive Technology in Meiji Japan" at the Global Japan Studies Lecture Series. The talk was chaired by Professor Shigeto Sonoda of the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia. In his talk, Professor Nakamura traced the process of Japan's railway technology development which he divided into four stages and analyzed the characteristics of each stage. With various figures and graphs, his talk provided a clear picture of how Japanese locomotive and railway technology has evolved during the Meiji period and how Japan has achieved original and innovative design by absorbing and learning from foreign technologies. Professor Sonoda and the audience joined the lively discussion following the talk. They shared their ideas and thoughts on patent issue concerning foreign technology transferring, the relation between railway and mindset of punctuality and various other topics.
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Date and time: January 19, 2018 (Fri.), 3:00-5:00PM
Venue: 1st Meeting Room (3rd Floor), The Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo
Speaker: Professor. Naofumi Nakamura (Senior Associate Director, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo)
Language: English
Abstract:
The main purpose of this talk is to clarify the process of railway technology development in Japan during the Meiji era (1868-1912) while focusing on the role of railway engineers and their technical imitation. The process of railway technology development in Japan can be divided into four stages: (1) transfer of railway systems from the UK by the Japanese government,1870s-1880s; (2) acquisition of railway materials from the US and Germany and diversification of technology, 1890s; (3) standardization and convergence of technology through the merger and nationalization of railway networks, 1900s; and (4) development of original technology by the government railway, 1910s. This paper focuses on the diversification and convergence of technology (stages 2, 3, and 4), while keeping this step-wise development in mind, and examines the process of technological diversification and convergence, primarily through the example of locomotives and locomotive engineers, that represent cutting-edge machine technology at the time.
It is true that underlying Japan’s advancement from imitation to original design were the formation of a cadre of Japanese engineers in both the government railway and private railway companies and the manufacturing know-how cultivated through the copying of a wide variety of model locomotives. In the context of the first wave of globalization occurring around the transition from the 19th to the 20th century, the ability to freely choose from among the most advanced railway materials offered by different countries around the world contributed to the diversification of technology and concomitant accumulation of experience. It was the convergence of this technology and know-how that bore fruit in the development original technology.
Organizer: The Global Japan Studies Network (GJS)
Co-organizer: Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo