(I004)Yokosuka Steel Works Shipyard and Yokohama Steel works : The process of Technology Transfer from France to Japan

摘要

In 1854, the Shogunate (Bakufu or Japanese government), was determined to fill its gap with the western nations and decided to establish a modern navy and to build Japanese-made warship. The commissioner of Finance Tadamasa OGURI (1827-1868) and foreign inspector Joun KURIMOTO (1822-1897) negotiated with the French minister in Japan, Léon Roches (1822- 1901), and concluded an agreement for the construction of a shipyard and ironworks in collaboration with a mission of fifty French experts from the French Navy. Yokosuka, which had similar geographical features to France’ Toulon naval port, was selected as the construction site under the supervision of French naval engineer Fran?ois Léonce Verny (1837-1908). This national project begun in 1865 and was finished in 1876 with the support of Meiji government. During the construction of the Yokosuka ironworks, the first iron factory was in fact established in Yokohama to help to produce tools for Yokosuka.