Cornelis Johannes van Doorn

Statue of Cornelis Johannes van Doorn by the Asaka Canal

Cornelis Johannes van Doorn (コルネリス・ヨハネス・ファン・ドールン^?) (1837-1906) was a Dutch engineer and foreign advisor in Japan during the Meiji period. He was invited to the country in 1872 and worked on hydraulic engineering projects on the Edo River and on port facilities at Nobiru in Sendai Bay.^[1][2] He designed Japan's first western-style waterway, the Asaka Canal, which reclaimed land around Lake Inawashiro in Fukushima Prefecture.^[3] A memorial bronze statue was erected to him beside the sluice gate on the River Tone in 1931.^[4] He also designed Japan's first western-style lock, the Ishii lock in Ishinomaki, designated an Important Cultural Property in 2002.^[5] Returning to the Netherlands after eight years, he died in Amsterdam.^[1]

See also

• Johannis de Rijke
• Foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan
• Rangaku

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "講談社 日本人名大辞典 - ファン=ドールン". Kodansha. http://kotobank.jp/word/ファン%3Dドールン. Retrieved 25 March 2011. 
2. ^ Masuda, Hiromi. "Japan's industrial development policy and the construction of the Nobiru port: the case study of a failure". Japan External Trade Organization. http://d-arch.ide.go.jp/je_archive/english/society/wp_je_unu37.html. Retrieved 29 March 2011. 
3. ^ "History". Asaka Canal. http://www.asakasosui.jp/main.htm. Retrieved 29 March 2011. 
4. ^ Finn, Dallas (1995). Meiji Revisited: The Sits of Victorian Japan. Weatherhill. p. 150. ISBN 0-8348-0288-0. 
5. ^ "Database of Registered National Cultural Assets". Agency for Cultural Affairs. http://www.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails.asp?register_id=102&item_id=3717. Retrieved 25 March 2011.