Horie Kuwajirō facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Horie Kuwajirō
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Grave of Horie Kuwajirō at Shitenno-ji temple in Tsu, Mie
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| Born | 1831 |
| Died | 1866 |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | Photographer |
Horie Kuwajirō (born in 1831, died in 1866) was an important early Japanese photographer. He was also a science writer. He helped bring new scientific ideas and photography techniques to Japan during a time of big changes.
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Who Was Horie Kuwajirō?
Horie Kuwajirō was a pioneer in Japan. He lived at a time when Japan was opening up to the world. He learned many new things from Western countries. His work helped spread knowledge about science and photography across Japan.
Learning New Things
Horie studied a type of Western learning called rangaku. This means "Dutch learning." It was how Japan learned about Western science and technology. He focused on chemistry at the Nagasaki Naval Training Center. His teacher there was J. L. C. Pompe van Meerdervoort. Pompe van Meerdervoort taught him chemistry and also photography.
Photography Arrives in Japan
In 1858, a Swiss photographer named Pierre Rossier came to Japan. He was sent by a company called Negretti and Zambra. Rossier taught a special way of taking photos called the collodion process. This was a new and exciting method. Horie Kuwajirō learned this technique from Rossier. His friend, Ueno Hikoma, also learned from Rossier. Ueno later became a very famous photographer himself.
It's thought that Horie might have traveled with Rossier. They might have explored Nagasaki together. Rossier took pictures of many things. These included priests, people asking for help, and even a sumo wrestling match. He also photographed the area where foreigners lived.
A New Camera and a Book
Around 1860 or 1861, Horie bought a special camera. It was a wet-plate camera, which used the collodion process. The money for this camera came from Tōdō Takayuki. He was a powerful leader, known as a daimyō, from the Tsu Domain. The camera and its chemicals cost 150 ryō. This was a lot of money back then!
Horie's friend, Ueno Hikoma, was very interested in this camera. He even moved to the Tsu Domain to be able to use it. In 1861, Horie took a picture of Ueno. Ueno was working in the Tsu Domain's science lab in Edo (which is now Tokyo).
In 1862, Horie and Ueno wrote a textbook together. It was called Shamitsu Kyoku Hikkei. This book shared knowledge from ten different Dutch science books. It also had a special section called Satsueijutsu. This part explained how to use the collodion process for photography. It also talked about an older printing method. Horie also taught about medicines to Uchida Kuichi. Uchida later became a well-known photographer too.
