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 farmer from Jigozen-mura, Hiroshima prefecture, who was commissioned to build a Taiko-bashi (Drum Bridge) for the 1894 San Francisco Midwinter Fair.

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.