ELECTRICAL ENGINEER KAZUO MORITA AND HYDROPOWER—HISTORY BEFORE THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLONIAL KOREA—

抄録

 The Nippon Chisso Hiryo K.K. company constructed the Pujon River Hydropower Plant in colonial Korea during the 1920s. The plant was very large for its time, even when compared to those built in the Japanese Empire. It later became an important trigger for Korean industrialization in the 1930s. The construction plan was proposed by electrical engineer Kazuo Morita (1872 – 1966). Although Morita conducted several large and similarly important hydropower projects in Japan, the scope of his work has not received a great deal of attention. This study therefore follows Morita’s work to clarify three characteristics that he acquired during that time of fierce electric power development boom in Japan (between World War I and the 1920s). This research determined the kind of experience Morita gained and what development concepts he maintained in the years before planning the giant Pujon River plant. First, he expanded his work assignments through the personal contacts he gained while developing giant hydropower plants for the Anglo-Japanese Hydro-Electric Co. during the late Meiji Period. Second, he was earnestly oriented toward and held a positive attitude about new technology. Third, he developed a technological system centered on electrical engineers and brought construction companies together to achieve the “formation of a construction cooperative” that specialized in hydropower plant construction. These events helped build the framework for Morita’s later construction of the Pujon River Hydropower Plant.