Takeda Ayasaburo (武田斐三郎)
Ayasaburo TAKEDA (November 4, 1827 to January 28, 1880) was a scholar coming from the Ozu Domain of Iyo Province (present Ozu City of Ehime Prefecture).
His name was Shigeaya
Ayasaburo was his common name. He called himself Chikuto.
He studied Western studies in Koan OGATA's school in Osaka and also Western tactics under Shozan SAKUMA in Edo. He demonstrated his unusual talent by planning and designing "Goryokaku", which was well known as the the first foreign- style castle in Japan during Battle of Hakodate. He was also known by designing the first heater in Japan.
Biography
Ayasaburo was born in Nakamura, which had Hiji-kawa River dividing the opposite shore where Ozu-jo Castle was located. Because he was a child with a running nose depending too much on his mother until the age of 17, he was nicknamed "big fool" by being compared with his elder brother Yukitaka (he served Emperor Komei, Takamori SAIGO praised him by saying the Restoration would not have been accomplished without Yukitaka). Even when he was heading to Sanyo-do Roadhe to follow Gempo MITSUKURI for the negotiation with Evfimii Vasil'evich Putyatin from Russia, he returned Ozu to meet his mother. Perry praised his personality and scholarship when he later held a meeting with Ayasaburo. He established a school in Hakodate much earlier than Keio Gijuku School and took his students to Kokuryuko, Russia by operating the ship called Kameda Maru, which was the first school excursion in Japan. Even Takeaki ENOMOTO and Hisoka MAEJIMA learned under him.
(ENOMOTO barricaded himself in Goryokaku that Ayasaburo had built.)
Ayasaburo was later called by the Meiji government and became a leader in the science field including manufacturing guns for Japanese army. His pupils yearned him and built a stone monument on the side of the entrance path to the branch shrine of Tosho-gu Shrine in Shiba district, Tokyo. The statue of Ayasaburo shown upper right was created based on his own photograph (he loved photography and even had the photograph of Takamori SAIGO, which was thought to be non-existing). The reason why the face of his statue is shining is because there is a rumor that touching the statue makes you smarter, and thus it has been patted by many people who visited Goryokaku. The house where he was born existed in Nakamura, Ozu City until 20 years ago.
However, it became old and when the Ozu City Board of Education visited the house, they gave the permission to destroy it
The house should have been repaired and preserved.