The Young Genius Who Saved Kyoto - Sakuro Tanabe
The Lake Biwa Canal project, planned to save Kyoto from the decline it faced after the Meiji Restoration, began with a bold decision by the then-Governor, Kunimichi Kitagaki. The Governor broke with the custom of the time of relying on foreign engineers and made the unusual appointment of 21-year-old Sakuro Tanabe as the chief engineer.
There are three reasons why Governor Kunimichi Kitagaki selected Sakuro Tanabe as the chief engineer for the Lake Biwa Canal project:
1. His meticulous planning and ability to explain in his graduation thesis
When Tanabe was a student at the Imperial College of Engineering, he walked the terrain himself to conduct a thorough survey and compiled a detailed "Lake Biwa Canal Construction Plan" based on precise calculations as his graduation thesis. When he met Governor Kitagaki after being introduced by Keisuke Otori, the principal of the Imperial College of Engineering, Tanabe showed him the thesis he was writing and explained its contents without hesitation; the Governor was impressed by his high level of ability.
The Imperial College of Engineering was the first government-run higher technical education institution in Japan, established by the Ministry of Public Works in the early Meiji period (1877) that invited the British engineer Henry Dyer to teach technologies such as civil engineering, mechanical engineering, telegraphy, and architecture. It produced figures like Kingo Tatsuno and developed into what would later become the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, serving as the foundation for training the engineers who supported modern Japan's infrastructure.
2. His ambition to "complete a major project with only Japanese people"
In the early Meiji period, it was customary for large-scale public works to be guided by foreign engineers, but Governor Kitagaki had a strong desire to "complete the construction with the power of Japanese people alone." The high level of completion of Tanabe's thesis and his enthusiasm deeply moved Governor Kitagaki, who aimed to build a self-reliant technological nation without relying on foreign engineers.
3. His indomitable spirit and backbone to overcome difficulties
While surveying for his graduation thesis, Tanabe suffered a serious injury when he dropped a rock drill on his right middle finger, breaking it. However, he drew precise diagrams with only his left hand while his right arm was in a sling and completed his thesis. Seeing this, Principal Otori gave him a strong recommendation, saying, "If he has this much grit, he should be able to handle any difficult construction," and Governor Kitagaki was also deeply moved by Tanabe's backbone.
Furthermore, in addition to these excellent qualities of Tanabe himself, the fact that the Ministry of Home Affairs had refused to lend a veteran engineer (Ichirobei Minami, the chief engineer of the Asaka Canal construction) whom Governor Kitagaki had originally planned to invite, stating that "we cannot lend an important person to a local construction project," also encouraged the bold selection of the young talent.
By utilizing meticulous designs based on scientific evidence and innovative technologies such as the shaft construction method, Tanabe led a large-scale modernization project by Japanese people alone to success. The electric power and water transport brought about by this project became a major driving force in regenerating Kyoto as a modern industrial city and continues to support the city's foundation as a symbol of pioneering self-reliant technology even today, more than 100 years later.
There is a "Monument to the Deceased of the Lake Biwa Canal" near the Keage Incline. It was erected at the personal expense of Sakuro Tanabe, who served as the chief engineer of the project.