Nakatani Shinshichi

The Shôrômon (Bell Tower Gate) at the Hagiwara Tea Garden in San Francisco, built by Nakatani Shinshichi.

• Born: 1846
• Died: 1922
• Japanese: 中谷新七 (Nakatani Shinshichi)

Nakatani Shinshichi was a master carpenter who was commissioned to build a Taiko-bashi (Drum Bridge) for the 1894 San Francisco Midwinter Fair.

Originally from a peasant family from Jigozen-mura, Hiroshima prefecture, he sold his family's rice fields to be able to afford the construction of the bridge and bell tower gate (shôrômon), which remain today a part of the Hagiwara Tea Garden. Shinshichi's son remained in San Francisco for nearly fifty years, working to try to earn the funds to re-purchase the family's fields.

References

• Plaque on-site at the Hagiwara Tea Garden, San Francisco.