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Article ID: CBB099792772

For 'Centres of Calculations?': 'Colonial meteorology' in nineteenth century Japan (2023)

Miyagawa, Takuya (Author)

Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
Volume: 26
Issue: 1
Pages: 97-112
Publication date: 2023
Language: English

DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2023.01.06

URI: https://engine.scichina.com/doi/10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2023.01.06

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Knowledge circulation Knowledge production (modes) Scientific communities; interprofessional relations Cross-national interaction Meteorology Colonialism Edo period (Japan, 1603-1868) Meiji period (Japan, 1868-1910) United States Europe Japan

Behind the 'success story' of Japan's rapid modernization and industrialization in the latter half of the nineteenth century; Japan was a field of colonial science for European and American visitors; some of whom were employed by the Meiji Government as science teachers; while others were sent on missions to gather information about Japan from a geopolitical perspective. This paper examines the 'colonial meteorology' in Japan that was conducted by various actors from Europe and the U.S. between the 1850s and the 1890s (inclusive). As is widely known; Japan is one of the few Asian nations that did not experience colonial rule by Western powers. Yet; in field sciences; the Japan archipelago was targeted as a newly discovered 'frontier' and thus Western navigators; naturalists; and science teachers sought and collected information on geography; climate; flora and fauna; and so forth. While the Japanese Government constructed a meteorological network throughout the country and started a weather service in the 1880s; various foreign scholars observed the weather daily and compiled climatological data during their stay; researched weather phenomena assumed to be unique to Japan (such as typhoons); and then reported the results to their home countries; to scientific journals in Europe; or to foreigners' communities in Japan without sharing the information with the locals. This paper investigates their activities and purposes; and their influences on Japanese meteorology; especially the form of knowledge production that would be duplicated in the expansive Japanese imperial territory.

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Article Maria Serena I. Diokno (2023) Introduction. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage (pp. 3-8). unapi

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