Inoue Masaru

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In this Japanese name, the family name is Inoue.

Inoue Masaru (井上 勝, Inoue Masaru^?, 1843–1910) was known as the "father of the Japanese railways".

He was born into the Chōshū clan at Hagi, Yamaguchi (Original son of Katsuyuki Inoue). He briefly was adopted into the Nomura family and became known as Nomura Yakichi, though later he was restored to the Inoue family.

Masaru Inoue was brought up as the son of a samurai belonging to the Choshu fief. At 15, he entered the Nagasaki Naval Academy established by the Tokugawa government under the direction of a Dutch naval officer.

In 1891 Masaru Inoue founded Koiwai Farm

He was a member of the Chōshū Five, who studied at University College London in 1863. To commemorate this, two scholarships, known as the Inoue Masaru Scholarships, are available each session under the University College London 1863 Japan Scholarships scheme to enable University College students to study at a Japanese University. The value of the scholarships are £2000 each.

His tomb is in the triangular bit of land where the Yamanote Line meets the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in Kita-Shinagawa.

[edit] The other members of the Chōshū Five

• Ito Shunsuke (later Ito Hirobumi)
• Inoue Monta (later Inoue Kaoru)
• Yamao Yozo who later studied engineering at the Andersonian Institute, Glasgow, 1866-68 while working at the shipyards by day
• Endo Kinsuke

[edit] See also

• Japanese students in Britain

[edit] References

• Yumiyo Yamamoto, "Inoue Masaru, 'Father' of the Japanese Railways", Ch. 2, Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits, Volume One, 1994 ed. Ian Nish