Japanese Students’ Studies at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris in the 1870s and its Impact on Urban Planning

Abstract

Between 1876 and 1879, young Japanese elites in the field of construction were selected by the government and sent to France to study at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris (hereafter ÉCAM). This study discusses the features of technical education at ÉCAM during that period and reconsiders its impact on the planning history of Japan through the practices of its students after their return. It focuses on the activities of Hanroku Yamaguchi (1858-1900) who finally drafted the Plan for Ōsaka in 1899, unrealized but one of the pioneering Japanese city plans. The Plan was strongly associated with public works which was to be supervised by his Paris colleagues—Kōi Furuichi and Tadao Okino—and with his practice on industrial buildings in Ōsaka. Its distinguished feature was industry-oriented design associated with his learning in France. Moreover, this paper discusses the limitations and scope of the transmission and localization of planning ideas.