Tanaka Moriaki

• Other Names: 朝倉省吾 (Asakura Shougo)
• Japanese: 田中盛明 (Tanaka Moriaki)

Tanaka Moriaki was one of nineteen young men from Satsuma han who snuck out of the country in 1865 to study abroad in Europe.

Twenty-three at the time of the mission, he focused in his studies on medicine. In 1866/1, he split off from the group and lived in France for a time, before returning to Japan the following year (1867). There, he became the head of the silver mines in Shôno, Hyôgo prefecture, and is said to have played a significant role in the Meiji period development of mining in Japan.

References

• Plaque at the monument to the Satsuma students, at Kagoshima Chûô train station, Kagoshima City.[1]