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Shichiro Nitobe (1843-1889)

 Shichiro Nitobe was born in Hanamaki (Iwate Prefecture) as the eldest son of Jujiro Nitobe.  At the age of 14, he went to Sanbongi (now Towada City) to help his father and grandfather with a reclamation project for the area.  Shichiro later became a secretary at the Nanbu Clan's headquarters and was invited to study battle strategy and tactics with the head of the clan, Toshiyuki Nanbu.  After the sudden death of his father in 1868 (Meiji 1), Shichiro inherited his father's position as overseer of the Sanbongi Plateau Reclamation project and returned to Sanbongi to execute his new duties.    Shichiro worked especially hard to allow immigration of Tonami (Aizu) Clan members to the newly developed area after the Tonami Clan was disbanded at the beginning of the Meiji Era.

 In 1873, at the age of 30, Shichiro resigned from the position as manager of the Sanbongi project and became an engineering specialist for the national government.   His construction projects include the Asaka Canal (Fukushima Prefecture) and the Nasu Canal (Tochigi Prefecture). He left government service when he was 43 years old and established his own engineering company, the Gengyou-sha.  Through this company, he began construction of the Torigoe Tunnel (Iwate Prefecture); however, Shichiro died before the tunnel's completion.

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 1F-The Sanbongi Reclamation Corner

Shichiro Nitobe (at age 31)