Kozo WATANABE was born in Hagi, Choshu Domain (present day, Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture). He attended Shoka Sonjuku (a private school run by Shoin YOSHIDA) in 1856 to study under the principal’s supervision at the age of 15 years old. He studied naval architecture in the United States and the United Kingdom inspired by the principal (Shoin YOSHIDA) at the end of the Edo period. After returning to Japan, he entered the Ministry of Engineering of the Meiji government and acted as the second dock-master of the Nagasaki shipyard. Furthermore, he made an effort for the construction of Tategami dock which was admired as the most advanced dock in Asia. These great achievements led him to be called the pioneer of the modern shipbuilding industry. However, preceding studies have given us only snippets of information about him, and neither a detailed causal relationship nor events associated with him have been described. Thus, his biography is reorganized based on the influence of the maritime intention in the Choshu Domain.
Kozo WATANABE（Seizaburo AMANO）
Shoin YOSHIDA
Maritime intention
渡辺蒿蔵（天野清三郎）
吉田松陰
海事志向