Yokohama Water Supply Story in Meiji

～Construction of Modern Water Supply System by H. S. Palmer in Yokohama～

Abstract

From the end of Edo to Meiji era, Japan suffered from repeated cholera pandemics, in one of which more than 100,000 people were killed. Therefore, in the early period of Meiji era, the spread of Western-style modern water supply system was urgently needed. The first water supply system in Japan was constructed in a foreign settlement in Yokohama by Henry Spencer Palmer who was a hired foreign engineer from England. The purpose of this report is to trace his trajectory in the history of Japanese water supply engineering as a reference for providing assistance to developing countries in the field of public health engineering.