Inoue Masaru (civil servant)

For the astronomer, see Masaru Inoue (astronomer).

Inoue Masaru
Born	August 25, 1843 Hagi, Yamaguchi, Japan
Died	August 2, 1910 London
Occupation	Engineer

Viscount Inoue Masaru (井上 勝, August 25, 1843 – August 2, 1910) was the first `Director of Railways` in Japan and is known as the "father of the Japanese railways".

He was born into the Chōshū clan at Hagi, Yamaguchi (Original son of Katsuyuki Inoue). He briefly was adopted into the Nomura family and became known as Nomura Yakichi, though later he was restored to the Inoue family.

Masaru Inoue was brought up as the son of a samurai belonging to the Chōshū fief. At 15, he entered the Nagasaki Naval Academy established by the Tokugawa government under the direction of a Dutch naval officer.

In 1863, Inoue and four friends from the Chōshū clan, stowed away on a vessel to the United Kingdom. He studied civil engineering and mining at University College London and returned to Japan in 1868. After working for the government as a technical officer supervising the mining industry, he was appointed Director of the Railway Board in 1871. Inoue played a leading role in Japan's railway planning and construction, including the construciton of the Nakasendo Railway, selection of the alternative route(Tokaido), and the proposals for future mainline railway networks.

After retirement from the government, Inoue founded Kisha Seizo Kaisha, the first locomotive manufacturer in Japan, becoming its first president in 1896. In 1909 he was appointed President of the Imperial Railway Association. He died on an illness in London in 1910, during an official visit on behalf of the Ministry of Railways.

In 1891 Masaru Inoue founded Koiwai Farm with Yanosuke Iwasaki and Shin Onogi.

Honors

Inoue and his friends later came to be known as the Chōshū Five. To commemorate their stay in London, two scholarships, known as the Inoue Masaru Scholarships, are available each session under the University College London 1863 Japan Scholarships scheme to enable University College students to study at a Japanese University. The value of the scholarships are £2000 each.

Grave of Inoue Masaru in Tokyo

His tomb is in the triangular bit of land where the Yamanote Line meets the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in Kita-Shinagawa.

The other members of the Chōshū Five

• Itō Shunsuke (later Itō Hirobumii)
• Inoue Monta (later Inoue Kaoru)
• Yamao Yōzō who later studied engineering at the Andersonian Institute, Glasgow, 1866-68 while working at the shipyards by day
• Endō Kinsuke

See also

• Japanese students in Britain

References

• Yumiyo Yamamoto, "Inoue Masaru, 'Father' of the Japanese Railways", Ch. 2, Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits, Volume One, 1994 ed. Ian Nish