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Hisashige Tanaka (田中 久重, October 16, 1799 – November 7, 1881) was a Japanese businessman, inventor, mechanical engineer, and rangaku scholar who was prominent during the Bakumatsu and early Meiji period in Japan.
Learn about the life and achievements of Hisashige Tanaka, the genius of mechanical wonders who created clockwork dolls, rapeseed-oil lamps, and telegraph systems. Explore his inventions, travels, and legacy at the Toshiba Science Museum.
Jul 29, 2013 · Learn about Tanaka Hisashige, a prolific inventor who created mechanical dolls, clocks, steam engines, and more. He also started the company that became Toshiba and was known as the Thomas Edison of Japan.
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Sep 23, 2021 · Learn about Tanaka Hisashige, the co-founder of Toshiba Corporation and the creator of the arrow-shooting and letter-writing Karakuri puppets. Discover the history and engineering behind Japan's mechanical dolls, which are considered the ancestors of modern robots.
Hisashige Tanaka was born as the eldest son of a tortoiseshell craftsman. At the age of nine he astonished his family and others by fashioning an "inkstone case with a secret lock" equipped with Karakuri mechanical figures.
Tanaka Hisashige, originally named Tanaka Giemon, was born in 1799 as the eldest son of a tortoiseshell craftsman. Early in his childhood, he showed mechanical ingenuity in making devices, some of which were useful to his neighbours. At the age of eighteen, his father passed away.
Oct 13, 2022 · A karakuri ningyō created by Tanaka Hisashige. Able to write characters, the doll dips its brush in ink and can reproduce various kanji in a lifelike manner. (© Jiji)
