Who was this person?
A Saga domain samurai of the late Edo period and a Meiji-era statesman, known as the founder of the Japanese Red Cross. After studying Dutch learning, he worked on steam engines and naval projects for the Saga domain. Learning of the Red Cross at the Paris Exposition, he founded the Hakuaisha during the Satsuma Rebellion to care for wounded soldiers of both sides, and became the first president of what became the Japanese Red Cross Society.
| Name | Sano Tsunetami (佐野常民) |
|---|---|
| Born–died | 1823 – 1902 |
| Period | Late Edo–Meiji |
| Birthplace | Saga, Hizen Province |
| Also known as | Eiju |
| Main achievements |
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He was born the fifth son of the Shimomura family, samurai of the Saga domain, in Hayatsue village in Hizen Province, now part of Saga City. His childhood name was Rinzaburō. He grew up in a watery village near the mouth of the Chikugo River, close to where the domain's naval base would later be built.
He was adopted by Sano Tsunemi, a physician of the Saga domain, and received the name Eiju from the former lord Nabeshima Narinao. As heir to a medical family he studied at the domain school Kōdōkan and later went to Edo to study under the Confucian scholar Koga Tōan, devoting himself to learning from a young age.
After studying under Hirose Genkyō in Kyoto, he entered Ogata Kōan's Tekijuku in Osaka and also studied surgery at the school founded by Hanaoka Seishū in Kii. At Tekijuku he met many who would later play key roles in the Meiji Restoration, such as Ōmura Masujirō, and his eyes were opened wide to Western learning.
After serving as head student at Itō Genboku's school in Edo, he returned to Saga and was appointed by the lord Nabeshima Naomasa to lead the Seirenkata, a bureau researching Western science and technology. He recommended Tanaka Hisashige and his son, known for their mechanical inventions, to the domain and worked with them on steam engines.
When the shogunate opened the Nagasaki Naval Training Center with Dutch instructors, he was among forty-eight first-year students sent by the Saga domain to learn seamanship and navigation. From this experience he urged Lord Naomasa to create a navy and became its head himself.
He became superintendent of the Saga domain's Mietsu Naval Dockyard, built near his home village. Ships were repaired and crews trained there, and in time the Ryōfūmaru, a practical Japanese-built steamship, was also constructed. He laid the groundwork for Saga's reputation as a technologically advanced domain.
He attended the Paris World Exposition as a representative of the Saga domain. There he saw the work of the international Red Cross, which aided wounded soldiers regardless of side, and was deeply moved. In the Netherlands he ordered a warship and toured Western industry and shipbuilding.
Having organised Japan's first government exhibition at the Yushima Seidō the previous year, he was sent to the Vienna World Exposition as vice-president of Japan's delegation. He worked hard to modernise Japanese industry through exhibitions and was nicknamed the Exhibition Man.
When the Satsuma Rebellion broke out, he and Ōgyū Yuzuru petitioned the government to found the Hakuaisha to help wounded soldiers on both sides. The request was not granted at once, but he travelled to Kumamoto and appealed directly to the commander Prince Arisugawa Taruhito, finally obtaining permission.
He became Minister of Finance, responsible for government finances, but resigned after a political upheaval the following year. The year before, to stop Japanese art flowing abroad, he had founded the Ryūchikai art society, later the Japan Art Association, and as its head worked to protect and foster artists.
He renamed the Hakuaisha the Japanese Red Cross Society and became its first president. That same year it was admitted to the international Red Cross. When Mount Bandai erupted the following year, the society also undertook relief for disaster victims, extending Red Cross work to peacetime.
He served as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce in Matsukata Masayoshi's cabinet, responsible for supporting the nation's industries. As president of the Japanese Red Cross he went on to build the system for aiding the sick and wounded at the front in conflicts such as the First Sino-Japanese War, and was later made a count.
He died at his home in Tokyo. In his native Saga he is counted among the Seven Wise Men of Saga, and near his birthplace a history museum presents his life together with the site of the Mietsu Naval Dockyard. The spirit of humanity he planted lives on in the Japanese Red Cross Society.
A. A Saga domain samurai of the late Edo period and a Meiji-era statesman, known as the founder of the Japanese Red Cross. After studying Dutch learning, he worked on steam engines and naval projects for the Saga domain. Learning of the Red Cross at the Paris Exposition, he founded the Hakuaisha during the Satsuma Rebellion to care for wounded soldiers of both sides, and became the first president of what became the Japanese Red Cross Society.
A. Period: Late Edo–Meiji. Born in 1823, died in 1902.
A. Sano Tsunetami was born in Saga, Hizen Province.
A. Seeing many soldiers wounded in the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, Sano Tsunetami sought to create an organisation to aid the wounded of both sides. The government did not approve at once, but he appealed directly to Prince Arisugawa Taruhito, who was commanding in Kumamoto, received permission, and the Hakuaisha was born.
See also: Wikipedia (ja) / Wikipedia (en) / Wikipedia (fr) / Wikipedia (zh) / Wikidata
Follow this life (autoplay)Hanaoka SeishūTanaka HisashigeItō GenbokuOgata KōanŌmura MasujirōMatsukata Masayoshi
Matsuura TakeshirōIwakura TomomiWilliam S. ClarkKanō HōgaiTakahashi YuichiSoejima TaneomiNishi AmaneYuri Kimimasa
People of the Meiji period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.