Zeniya Gohei
Zeniya Gohei (1773-1852) was a Japanese merchant and engineer.
Gohei was born to a family of money-changers in Kaga province.[1]
Coastal shipping
Gohei was put in charge of developing a coastal shipping fleet (kitamae ships) for the Tokugawa shogunate; and he became very rich from rice trading.[1]
Land reclamation project
In the summer of 1851, Gohei attempted a land reclamation project in the Kahoku Lake, which is south of Kanazawa on the Sea of Japan. He planned to create rice paddies; but the project failed.[2]
In mid-1852, a large number of dead fish floated to the surface of the inlet near worksite; and some local people died after eating the dead fish. Gohei and his family were deemed responsible; and they were imprisoned. The eighty-year old Gohei within three months.[2]
Notes
- ^ a b Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric et al. (2005). "Zeniya Gohei" in Japan encyclopedia, pp. 1071., p. 1071, at Google Books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File.
- ^ a b Shimoda, Hiraku. "Bad Sushi or Bad Merchant? The ‘Dead Fish Poisoning Incident’ of 1852," Modern Asian Studies (2001), Vol. 35, pp. 513-531; JSTOR
References
- Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301
Further reading
- Wakabayashi, Kisaburo. 1984). Zeniya Gohei. Osaka: Zogensha.
External links
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