Kunitomo Ikkansai

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Kunitomo Ikkansai
Kunitomo's home in Nagahama

Kunitomo Ikkansai ( Japanese 国 友 一貫 斎 ; born November 21, 1778 in Kunitomo, Sakata-gun , Ōmi Province (today: Nagahama , Shiga Prefecture ); † December 26, 1840 ) was a Japanese gunsmith and inventor of the Edo period .

Ikkansai is like Tōbē ( 藤 兵衛 ) or Minryū ( 眠 龍 ) a stage name, whereby his real first name was Shigechika ( 重 恭 ). He came from a family of official gunsmiths of the Tokugawa Shogunate . Because of a dispute with other blacksmiths or gunsmiths in the village, he went to the capital Edo in 1811 to clarify . There he made the acquaintance of the doctor Yamada Daien ( 山田 大 円 ; 1765–1831), who showed him an air rifle made by the Dutch living in Dejima . Taking on this knowledge ( Rangaku ), he began to develop his own air rifle, but was also interested in other Dutch goods and knowledge. So he constructed several Gregory telescopes . These had a magnification of 60 and enabled him to study the sunspots and the topography of the moon in detail during a 14-month observation phase from 1835 to 1836 . Four of these devices have survived to this day.

In addition, he created drafts and sketches for special mirrors, iron arches, a constantly burning oil lamp, a fountain pen and, in 1830, for an airship. His manual on the manufacture of small and large firearms ( 大小 御 鉄 炮 張立 製作 ), which gives an insight into the closely guarded craft at the time, is of historical importance .

The asteroid (6100) Kunitomoikkansai was named after him on December 8, 1998.

photos

  • Kunitomos Gregory Telescope , 1831.

  • Observation of the moon by Kunitomo, 1836.

  • Air rifle developed by Kunitomo, circa 1820–1830.

  • Trigger mechanism of Kunitomo's air rifle.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c 所 荘 吉 : 国 友 藤 兵衛 . In: 朝日 日本 歴 史 人物 事 典 at kotobank.jp. Retrieved May 15, 2014 (Japanese).
  2. ↑ a b Lutz D. Schmadel : Dictionary of minor planet names . 5th revised edition. tape 1 . Springer, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-540-00238-3 , pp. 509 (English, limited preview in Google Book search).
Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Kunitomo is the family name, Ikkansai the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Kunitomo, Ikkansai
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 国 友 一貫 斎 (Japanese, stage name); Kunitomo Tōbē (stage name); 国 友 藤 兵衛 (Japanese, stage name); Kunitomo Shigechika (real name); 国 友 重 恭 (Japanese, real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese gunsmith and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH November 21, 1778
PLACE OF BIRTH Kunitomo, Sakata-gun , Ōmi Province (today: Nagahama , Shiga Prefecture )
DATE OF DEATH December 26, 1840