Technical Knowledge in Early Modern Japan: Japanese History of Technology

Erich Pauer, born in Vienna in 1943, specializes in Japanese economic history and the history of technology. He has taught at the Universities of Bonn and Marburg (Germany) and has published widely on these subjects. He is currently affiliated with the CEEJA (Centre Européen d’Études Japonaises d’Alsace) in Colmar, France.

Acknowledgements, Introduction: Remarks on the History of Technology in Japan, Erich PAUER, 1. Production Techniques in Early Modern Japan as seen through 'Famous Products of Japan from Mountain and Sea, Illustrated' (Nippon sankai meisan zue, 1799), Annick HORIUCHI, 2. Vehicles of Knowledge: Japanese Technical Drawings in the Pre-modern Era, 1600-1868, Erich PAUER, 3. Dissemination of Knowledge and Technology: The Extensive Range of Exhibitions in Japan in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, IT? Mamiko, 4. Knowledge on Mining and Smelting and Its Dissemination in the Edo Period, Regine MATHIAS, 5. Tanaka Hisashige and His Myriad Year Clock: Its Technological Characteristics and Historical Background, HASHIMOTO Takehiko, 6. A Statistical Analysis of To-kyo- Meiko- Kagami (with a Focus on Highly Skilled Metalwork Craftsmen), NISHIYAMA Takahiro, 7. Boiler Manufacture in Late-nineteenth Century Japan: From First Beginnings to Nationwide Expansion, SUZUKI Jun (Translated by Nicholas Pertwee), Appendix: Selected Sources on the Japanese History of Technology (especially on series), Erich PAUER, List of Contributors, Index.

This volume provides a valuable selection of new research on the subject of the generation, dissemination and application of technical knowledge in Japan.