4113 Power characteristics of the water wheel in Edo era for Blast furnace blower
Details
At the end of Edo era, many western technologies were imported to Japan. However, the philosophy for industrial development of Japan was completely different from western countries. In western countries, society is supported by the linkage of mass manufacturing by industry and mass consumption by ordinary people. On the other hand, only demanded amount of products were manufactured in Japan, mainly using recycled materials. At the time, modem western blast furnace were constructed at Kamaishi, in Northeastern Japan. This furnace had almost similar dimension as shown in western textbook. However, surrounding building and the watermill for driving blowers were Japanese traditional style. This situation was different from the technology transfer at Meiji period. In this report, the reason of this difference are discussed to clarify the difference of the Japanese traditional manufacturing philosophy from western one.
