10:45 AM - 12:15 PM
[MZZ39-P03] Investigating a photo “Professor Mendenhall with students and faculty of the department of physics at Tokyo university”
Keywords:Thomas C. Mendenhall, Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo, meteorological observation at Mt. Fuji
In October 1878, Thomas C. Mendenhall (1841–1924) came from the United States to Japan as a professor of physics at the Department of Physics, University of Tokyo. An account of his three-year stay in Japan was excerpted from his full autobiography and published by his grandson in 1989 as “An American scientist in early Meiji Japan: the autobiographical notes of Thomas C. Mendenhall” (University of Hawaii Press, 1989). This publication included the photo reproduced below, which is entitled “Professor Mendenhall with students and faculty of the department of physics at Tokyo university”. The photo was previously unknown in Japan.
Apart from Mendenhall himself, the only individuals identified in the photograph as published were Professor Yamakawa Kenjirō (1854–1931) and the student Tanakadate Aikitsu (1856–1952). We have now attempted to identify everybody shown in the photo. In addition to Yamakawa and Tanakadate, we believe that the following persons appear: the students Fujisawa Rikitarō (1861–1933), Kiriyama Tokusaburō (1856–1928), Kumamoto Aritaka (1860–1934), Tanaka Shōhei (1862–1945), Tamana Teizō (1861–1937), Terao Hisashi (1855–1923), Nakamura Kiyo’o (1855–1930), Nobutani Shinji (1857-1893) and Wada Yūji (1859–1918). All of them played leading roles in the subsequent development of the physical sciences in Japan, most notably in the field of geophysics, suggesting that Mendenhall had a major influence on Japanese geophysics. Kikuchi Dairoku (1855-1917), who was a professor at the time and acted as Mendenhall’s interpreter, is believed not to be in the photo. The photograph was reportedly taken just before Mendenhall’s departure from Japan in 1881, but the fact that Terao, who studied in France from May 1879 to March 1883, is in the photo suggests that it was taken earlier, around 1878, shortly after Mendenhall’s arrival in Japan. The images of these young men, who were all around 16 to 24 years old, may stimulate many thoughts about their lives, interrelationships and networking at that time. For example, all seven students and graduates participated in Mendenhall’s gravity and weather observations on Mt Fuji in August 1880, who were Tanaka, Tanakadate, Kumamoto, Fujisawa, Nakamura and Nobutani, while Wada made observations at the mountain’s foot, Terao, a native of Fukuoka Prefecture, introduced his hometown fellow, Nonaka Itaru (1867–1955) to Wada in 1894, who was the head of Forecast Division of the Central Meteorological Observatory, and this became a major impetus for Nonaka’s plan to make weather observations on the summit of Mt Fuji in the winter of 1895.
Acknowledgments: The author express his hearty thanks to the descendants of Wada Yūji and to the members of "Fuyo Nikki no Kai", a group of volunteers interested in the history of Mt. Fuji. These identifications were made with their great help. This research was supported by JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research 20H00676.
Note: In this abstract, Japanese names are written in the Japanese style of surname-firstname.
Photo: “Thomas C Mendenhall with students and faculty of the Department of Physics at Tokyo University” (Mendenhall 1989)
(Wikimedia Commons: File:ThomasCMendenhallwithStudentsJapan1880.jpg).
Yamakawa Kenjirō was shown immediately behind Mendenhall, and Tanakadate Aikitsu was shown second from the right. We believe that the photo shows, in the front row from the left, Kiriyama Tokusaburō, Terao Hisashi (. Mendenhall), Nakamura Kiyo’o and Wada Yūji; and in the back row from the left, Nobutani Shinji, Tanaka Shōhei, Kumamoto Airtaka (, Yamakawa), Tamana Teizō (, Tanakadate) and Fujisawa Rikitarō.
Apart from Mendenhall himself, the only individuals identified in the photograph as published were Professor Yamakawa Kenjirō (1854–1931) and the student Tanakadate Aikitsu (1856–1952). We have now attempted to identify everybody shown in the photo. In addition to Yamakawa and Tanakadate, we believe that the following persons appear: the students Fujisawa Rikitarō (1861–1933), Kiriyama Tokusaburō (1856–1928), Kumamoto Aritaka (1860–1934), Tanaka Shōhei (1862–1945), Tamana Teizō (1861–1937), Terao Hisashi (1855–1923), Nakamura Kiyo’o (1855–1930), Nobutani Shinji (1857-1893) and Wada Yūji (1859–1918). All of them played leading roles in the subsequent development of the physical sciences in Japan, most notably in the field of geophysics, suggesting that Mendenhall had a major influence on Japanese geophysics. Kikuchi Dairoku (1855-1917), who was a professor at the time and acted as Mendenhall’s interpreter, is believed not to be in the photo. The photograph was reportedly taken just before Mendenhall’s departure from Japan in 1881, but the fact that Terao, who studied in France from May 1879 to March 1883, is in the photo suggests that it was taken earlier, around 1878, shortly after Mendenhall’s arrival in Japan. The images of these young men, who were all around 16 to 24 years old, may stimulate many thoughts about their lives, interrelationships and networking at that time. For example, all seven students and graduates participated in Mendenhall’s gravity and weather observations on Mt Fuji in August 1880, who were Tanaka, Tanakadate, Kumamoto, Fujisawa, Nakamura and Nobutani, while Wada made observations at the mountain’s foot, Terao, a native of Fukuoka Prefecture, introduced his hometown fellow, Nonaka Itaru (1867–1955) to Wada in 1894, who was the head of Forecast Division of the Central Meteorological Observatory, and this became a major impetus for Nonaka’s plan to make weather observations on the summit of Mt Fuji in the winter of 1895.
Acknowledgments: The author express his hearty thanks to the descendants of Wada Yūji and to the members of "Fuyo Nikki no Kai", a group of volunteers interested in the history of Mt. Fuji. These identifications were made with their great help. This research was supported by JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research 20H00676.
Note: In this abstract, Japanese names are written in the Japanese style of surname-firstname.
Photo: “Thomas C Mendenhall with students and faculty of the Department of Physics at Tokyo University” (Mendenhall 1989)
(Wikimedia Commons: File:ThomasCMendenhallwithStudentsJapan1880.jpg).
Yamakawa Kenjirō was shown immediately behind Mendenhall, and Tanakadate Aikitsu was shown second from the right. We believe that the photo shows, in the front row from the left, Kiriyama Tokusaburō, Terao Hisashi (. Mendenhall), Nakamura Kiyo’o and Wada Yūji; and in the back row from the left, Nobutani Shinji, Tanaka Shōhei, Kumamoto Airtaka (, Yamakawa), Tamana Teizō (, Tanakadate) and Fujisawa Rikitarō.