Johannis de Rijke

Johannis de Rijke, 1908

Statue of Johannis de Rijke at Sendohira River Park in Fukuhara Tatsuta-chō, Aisai , Japan

Johannis de Rijke (born December 5, 1842 in Colijnsplaat , Noord-Beveland , † January 20, 1913 in Amsterdam ) was a Dutch hydraulic engineer and a foreign specialist for the government of Japan during the Meiji period .

Early life

Rijke was born in the Colijnsplaat district of Noord-Beveland. He was the third of seven children of the farmer and occasional dike worker Pieter de Rijke and his wife Anna Catharina Liefbroer. He joined the Dutch Ministry of the Interior, where he studied mathematics , earthworks and hydraulic engineering under Jacobus Lebret .

Career

In 1865, Rijke worked for Cornelis Johannes van Doorn on the construction of the Oranje lock that separated the IJ from the Zuiderzee at Schellingwoude near Amsterdam . Rijke was the construction foreman. When van Doorn was invited to Japan in 1872, he asked Rijke to join him in designing the new port of Osaka .

Japan

Rijke and van Doorn, together with George Arnold Escher (the father of graphic artist MC Escher ), arrived in Japan in September 1873. Over the next thirty years these three civil engineers developed a large number of flood protection and water management projects . Rijke's first project was hill erosion protection on the upper reaches of the Yodo . He worked out plans to improve the Yodo, Shōnai , Yoshino and Tama , but was also responsible for improving various port facilities such as those of Nagasaki , Hakata ( Fukuoka ), Ujina ( Hiroshima ), Tokyo , Yokohama , Mikuni ( Sakai ) and Niigata .

Its breakwater at the port of Yokkaichi has been recognized by the Japanese government as an important cultural asset .

Rijke also developed plans to improve the riparian forests of various Japanese rivers. His preparatory work and planning led to the separation of the Kiso , Nagara and Ibi rivers near Nagoya , also known as the "Three Kiso Rivers" . Another important project was the construction of a tunnel canal from Lake Biwa to Kyoto , but also of the Kanda drainage network .

This work led to Rijke being appointed to the Ministry of the Interior by imperial decree on January 1, 1891 , where he held the post of Vice Minister.

China

In 1876, Rijke traveled to Shanghai to help plan to increase navigability on the Yangtze River .

In 1901 he returned to China to work on a flood protection project for the Yellow River . In 1902 he was involved in a project to increase the navigability of the Huangpu Jiang .

Late life

Rijke died in Amsterdam at the age of 70 . He was buried in the Zorgvlied cemetery.

Awards

• Order of the Holy Treasure : January 15, 1889 (4th class), May 19, 1892 (3rd class); June 17, 1903 (2nd class)
• Order of Orange-Nassau (Officer): January 13, 1911.
• Order of the Dutch Lion (Knight): January 17, 1913.
• Order of Leopold (knight)

literature

• Yoshiyuki Kamibayashi: Two Dutch Engineers and Improvements of Public Works in Japan (PDF). In: Karl-Eugen Kurrer , Werner Lorenz , Volker Wetzk (eds.): Proceedings of the Third International Congress on Construction History . Neunplus, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-936033-31-1 , pp. 879-887.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Standbeelden Johannis de Rijke, Colijnsplaat. Gemeente Noord-Beveland, accessed October 27, 2011 (Dutch). 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Louis Frédéric : Japan Encyclopedia . Harvard University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-674-00770-0 , pp. 152 (English, limited preview in the Google book search - French: Japon, dictionnaire et civilization . Translated by Käthe Roth).
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Danielle Pinedo: Oer-Hollands. In Japan Johannis de Rijke is nog altijd een beroemdheid. In the Netherlands, alleen een sober graf aan zijn bestaan. In: NRC Handelsblad. January 13, 2000, accessed October 27, 2011 (Dutch). 
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e} The Father of the Riparian Work on the Kiso-Sansen. Johannis de Rijke. (PDF) Chubu Regional Construction Bureau, Ministry of Construction, Kiso River Lower Reaches Works Office, accessed October 27, 2011 . 
5. ^ Pradyumna Prasad Karan: Japan in the 21st century. Environment, Economy, and Society . University Press of Kentucky, Lexington 2005, ISBN 0-8131-2342-9 , pp. 136 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
6. ^ Dutch-Japanese relations. (No longer available online.) Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tokyo, formerly in the original ; accessed on October 27, 2011 (English).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
7. ^ Willem-Alexander : Leaders Addresses at the Opening Ceremony of the International Yellow River Forum: Dutch Crown Prince William Alexander. Yellow River Conservancy Commission, archived from the original on May 22, 2011 ; accessed on October 27, 2011 (English). 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Dennis Rijsbergen: Johannis de Rijke, ridder van de rijzende zon. In: Beroemde Zeeuwen. August 27, 2009, accessed October 27, 2011 (Dutch).