Inheritance of technology(3)
The Dutch Foreign Advisor who Designed a World Cultural Heritage Port
Rouwenhorst Mulder was a Dutch hydraulic engineer. He was one of several foreigners invited by the Meiji government to Japan to help advance the country’s modernization. Mulder created the entire urban plan for the Misumi Nishi Port area in Uki City, Kumamoto, including drainage canals and roads. The purpose of the port was exporting to other countries coal from the Miike Coal Mine (Kumamoto and Fukuoka prefectures). This major national project was later called “The Three Great Harbor Construction Projects of the Meiji Period,”and Misumi Nishi Port was registered as a part of the UNESCO World Heritage “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution” in 2015.
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Misumi Nishi Port
Today, 130 years after construction of Misumi Nishi Port finished, the stone-built pier and other structures remain here in good condition. Many tourists visit to see them.
Location: Misumiura, Misumi-machi, Uki-shi, Kumamoto
PH: 0964-32-1111 (Uki City Area Development and Tourism Division)
Website: Uki City (Japanese only, Google translate button on the website)
https://www.city.uki.kumamoto.jp/q/list/389.html
Transportation: Approx. 10 min from JR Misumi Station by car
Approx. 1 hr from JR Kumamoto Station by bus (rapid bus Amakusa-go)
Approx. 10 min from Misumi Sanko by bus
Approx. 40 min from Kyushu Jukan Expressway Matsubase Interchange
Parking: Available