Sano Tsunetami
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Count Sano Tsunentami (佐野常民 Sano Tsunetami?); (28 December 1822- 12 December 1902) was a Japanese statesman and founder of the Japanese Red Cross Society.
Born in Saga domain (present-day Saga Prefecture), Sano studied rangaku (western learning) under Ogata Koan, Ito Gemboku, and others. He played a leading role in the creation of a modern navy for the Saga domain.
After the Meiji Restoration, he was called upon to assist in the formation of the Imperial Japanese Navy. He accompanied the Japanese delegation to the Paris Exposition of 1867, and while in Paris learned of the International Red Cross. He traveled on to the Netherlands to supervise the construction of new warships and to learn of western shipbuilding techniques, but the image of the Red Cross remained in his memory.
In 1877, he created the Hakuaisha, a relief organization to provide medical assistance to soldiers wounded in the Satsuma Rebellion. This organization became the Japan Red Cross Society in 1887, with Sano as its first president.
Sano also served in the Genroin , as a member of the Privy Council, and in various government posts. During the 1st Matsukata administration, he was appointed as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce.
Before his death, he was awarded with the Order of the Rising Sun (1st class with Paulownia Blossoms). His grave is at Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo.
[edit] References
- Brunton, Richard. Building Japan 1868-1876. RoutledgeCurzon (1995). ISBN: 1873410050
- Checkland, Olive. Japan and Britain after 1859: Creating Cultural Bridges. RoutledgeCurzon (2002). ISBN: 0700717471
- Cobbing, Andrew. The Japanese Discovery of Victorian Britain. RoutledgeCurzon (1989). ISBN: 1873410816.
- Yoshikawa, Ryuko. Nisseki no soshisha Sano Tsunetami. Yoshikawa Kobunkan (2001). ISBN: 4642055185 (Japanese)
