4.4 Historical Celebritiesの最近のブログ記事

Kuukai, also called Kobo Daishi, was born in Sanuki (now Kagawa) 1200 years ago. He became a priest and went to Tang, China, to study Buddhism. Upon his return, he brought back not only Buddhism but also various other gifts, art and culture. He contributed greatly to the progress of Japan and was one of Japan's greatest pioneers of international exchange.

Hiraga Gennai was a clansman of the Sanuki Takamatsu han (feudal domain) in the Edo period about 200 years ago. He was a pharmacologist. Later in life, he went to Edo and Nagasaki and was exposed to books and other ideas imported from the West. He was active in various fields: he invented a hand-operated electric generator and a thermometer and also wrote plays. He was a Renaissance man of a kind rarely seen in his day.

Ninomiya Chuhachi invented a propeller-driven plane in 1894 when he was serving in the Marugame regiment in Kagawa; this was well before the Wright brothers' invention in 1903. Due to a lack of funds, however, his invention could not be put into practice.

Ohira Masayoshi was born in Toyohama, Kagawa. In 1978 he became prime minister of Japan, where he contributed to the normalization of diplomatic relations and the conclusion of a peace and friendship treaty with China. He died while in office, in 1980.