Thomas WATERS

(1842 – 1898)

Irish architect who worked as an “employed foreigner” in the early Meiji period (1868-1912) in Japan, best known for the construction of the Mint in Ôsaka and “Ginza Bricktown” after the “Great Ginza Fire” | 1842 born in Birr, Ireland | 1864 involved in the construction of the British “Royal Mint” in Hong Kong; travels to Kagoshima, meets his uncle Thomas Blake GLOVER; works on the Spinning Mills Satsuma | 1868 goes to Nagasaki to work for Glover as a money manager | 1868-70 builds the “Mint Reception Office” in Ôsaka | 1870 works for the Ministry of Finance in Tôkyô, after gaining the confidence of ÔKUMA Shigenobu, later Prime Minister of Japan | 1875 leaves Japan | 1898 died in Denver, Colorado

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