title: Hokuriku Tales vol.3

Summary

A book of five stories about Fukui, Ishikawa and Toyama with useful data vol.3

Komaki dam, which contributedto the modernization of Japan,has been named a Japan Societyof Civil Engineers Public WorksHeritage site, a Registered TangibleCultural Property of Japan and aHeritage of Industrial Modernizationsite.King of Cement: Soichiro AsanoOne of the entrepreneurs that caught Yasuda’s eye was Soichiro Asano (1848 ?1930) who later came to be called the“King of Cement”or the“Father of theKeihin (Tokyo-Yokohama) Industrial Belt.”Born a son of a medical doctor in Yabuta village (present-day Himi City),Asano at his young age saw a big opportunity in the cement business. Then heembarked on a mega project of reclaiming the long coast line between Tokyoand Yokohama to construct Japan’s first industrial belt that integrated factoriesand ports. This extremely ambitious project was implemented with the supportof Yasuda. People later described their relationship as Asano being the engineand Yasuda being the fuel.They together founded a shipping company to start trans-Pacific service, andbuilt railroads (present-day JR Tsurumi Line) that served the industrial belt.They did not hesitate to invest in such modern-day transportation infrastructurethat succeeded the roles Kitamaebune had played in the national economy. In1930 (the 5 th year of Showa), they completed the construction of the Komakihydroelectric dam on the Shogawa River in their common home of Toyama.They were apparently convinced infrastructure construction and improvementwas urgently needed for Japan to catch up with the world.Stroll through the streets and feel the legaciesof the KitamaebuneToyamaIwaseBust of Madam Haru Baba locatedin Baba Memorial ParkHouse of Mori, a Kitamaebune magnateThe Iwase district of Toyama city was home to the House of Baba, whichduring the Meiji Era was reputed as one of the five largest ship-owners ofKitamaebune in Hokuriku. Among the successive heads of the House, Haru Babais the best known because she used the wealth Kitamaebune brought in to laythe foundation for the present-day University of Toyama and donated the 2,443books that the Irish expatriate journalist and novelist Patrick Lafcadio Hearn(naturalized name, Koizumi Yakumo) had owned. (This collection is now archivedas the Hearn Collection in the university library.) Take the stylish street carToyama Light Rail from the north exit of JR Toyama station, or walk to theFugan Canal and Waterway Park nearby and get aboard either the solarpanel-roofed or the electric motor-driven canal boats operated jointly bythe prefecture and the city. Shortly thereafter, you will find yourself inthe midst of old streets lined by classic wooden houses and traditionalrestaurants that show signs of the time of the Kitamaebune. Thecompound of the House of Mori, a former Kitamaebune ship owner, hasbeen designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan and is open totourists. Another place of interest is a sake store that has been inbusiness since 1905 (the 38 th year of Meiji). Some years before then, thefounder left Iwase by Kitamaebune for Asahikawa, Hokkaido, started asuccessful sake brewery there and the returned to his hometown.At the end of the Edo Period, a Kitamaebune named Choja-maru waswrecked, and a crew member called Yonedaya Jirokichi who was amongthose saved by an Americanwhaling boat was finally sentback home via Hawaii, Alaskaand other places. Choja-maruoriginated in Iwase.8Hokuriku Tales vol.3Omachi Street, Iwase. Even thebank building is designed to meltinto the old town atmosphere.