A Study on “Fumiguruma”, a Man-Powered Waterwheel in the Edo Era

Its Capacity to Pump Water and Its Influence upon Civil Engineering in the Edo Era

Abstract

Furniguruma is a man-powered waterwheel which was invented in the late seventeenth century and which came into nation-wide use in the middle of the Edo era. For a long time, its main function was to irrigate rice fields until steam pumps and electric pumps were finally introduced.
And, appropriately placed, Furniguruma proved its great power for helping drain underground water at engineering works in those days. Therefore, Furniguruma should be credited for technical advances in agricultural and civil engineering in the middle of the Edo era. However, there has not been much attention paid to Furniguruma in historical studies on civil engineering so far.
In this paper, we describe the Furniguruma's ability to pump water and suggest its influence on Kisyuryu, a school of civil engineering in the Edo era.