Tawara Kuniichi

Tawara Kuniichi

Tawara Kuniichi ( Japanese 俵 国 一 ; born April 5, 1872 in Hamada ( Shimane Prefecture ); died July 30, 1958 ) was a Japanese metallurgist.

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Tawara Kuniichi graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at Tōkyō University in 1897 and immediately became an assistant professor at his alma mater. In 1899 he visited Germany for further training. On his return he became a professor at Tōkyō University, which honored him as "Meiyō Kyōju" when he retired.

Tawara is known for his investigations into the traditional methods of iron extraction and the further processing of the high-quality steel of Japanese swords, for which he coined the term "wakō" (和 鋼).

In 1946 Tawara was awarded the Order of Culture and in 1951 subsequently honored as a person with special cultural merits .

Remarks

1. ↑ Meiyo Kyōju (名誉 教授) is occasionally rendered in German as "Professor emeritus". But in contrast to this title, which is automatically used on retirement, this is a special award only occasionally granted in Japan.
2. ↑ Since the imperial cultural order may not be linked to a payment, the distinction "person with special cultural merits" was introduced in 1951, which is linked to an honorary salary from budget funds. Only some of those who have been honored receive the cultural medal at the same time or later.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Tawara Kuniichi . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 1532.

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Tawara is the family name, Kuniichi the first name.