The test for Portland cement, which was established in 1905, is considered to be the first industrial standard in the history of engineering technology in Japan. The test, which was used by dry mortar, was technically the same as that of the Japan's cement companies established in 1898. The superiority of dry mortar and stiff-consistency concrete in strength was officially proven through an investigation of the cause of concrete damages in the Yokohama Harbor under construction in 1893. Takayama who conducted the investigation recommended that the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce should determine the tests of dry mortar and stiff-consistency concrete as official tests for Portland cement. The officially adopted test was almost the same as a test, which was recommended by cerement companies in 1898. That clearly indicates that the cement companies have applied pressure to the Ministry to standardize their tests as official tests for Portal cement. The standardized tests for Portland cement, however, could not regulate, the methods of construction. Although cement manufactures enthusiastically proceeded the research on cement and concrete and actually pointed out some problems concerning constructions by using the cement and concrete, the techniques, which was utilized in the tests for Portland cement had not been come into wide use in the field of construction. The gap between theory and practice of the tests, therefore, remained as an unsolved problem in the following Taisho era (1912-26).
