The Smithsonian Meteorological Project and Hokkaido, Japan Kae
The Smithsonian Meteorological Project and Hokkaido, Japan Kae Takarabe Introduction The history of meteorology in Japan, especially after the Meiji Restoration, has tended to be described in terms of knowledge diffusion from central Tokyo outwards to local areas, despite the fact that meteorological observations were carried out at places such as Nagasaki and Yokohama (Fig. 1).1 The aim of this paper is to explore an alternative meteorological channel in Japan, operating in Hokkaido. The Japanese government considered Hokkaido a critical area for development and therefore set out to colonise and develop the region’s agriculture by making use of American science and scientific advisors. Meteorology was crucial to this process. This paper contends that the development of meteorological capabilities in Hokkaido counters the centre-periphery model (Fig. 2) which has come to dominate the literature of history of science.2 1 Kishocho, Kisho hyakunenshi [100 Years’ History of Meteorology] (Tokyo: Kishocho, 1975); Sapporo Regional Headquarters, Kishocho, Sapporo kisho hyakunenshi [100 Years’ History of Meteorology in Sapporo] (Sapporo: Sapporo Regional Headquarters, Kishocho, 1976). Exceptional works are as follows: Shigeru Kobayashi, “The Extension of Japanese Weather Survey in Relation to the China Coast Meteorological Service”, Abstracts from the General Meeting of the Association of Japanese Geographers 2017, the Association of Japanese Geographers [in Japanese]; Togo Tsukahara, “Rangaku, Global Warming, Science and Empires: History and Climate, Based on Dutch Historical Archive,” Bulletin of Historiographical Institute of Tokyo University 16 (2006): 79–108 [in Japanese]. 2 George Basalla, “The Spread of Western Science,” Science 156, no. 3775 (1967): 611–22; Lewis Pyenson, Civilizing Mission: Exact Sciences and French Overseas Expansion, 1830–1940 (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993).
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