Scientists, Businessmen, Architects…Famous Shiko Graduates
Kanazawa University and its predecessor schools have produced a diverse range of talented individuals who were active in a variety of fields. Here we will introduce some famous people who graduated from Shiko.
Kimura Hisashi and Nakaya Ukichiro
Among researchers in the natural sciences, particularly famous are Kimura Hisashi and Nakaya Ukichiro.
Kimura Hisashi (1870-1943) was an astronomer who was appointed director of the Latitude Observatory of Mizusawa, Iwate Prefecture, at a young age, and astonished the world by disseminating precise observation data to the world. Kimura proposed adding a third term (Z-term) to correct the discrepancy between the values predicted by the conventional formula and the observed values. For this achievement, he was awarded the Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy and the Order of Culture.
Kimura Hisashi (Photo courtesy of Great People of Kanazawa Memorial Museum)
Nakaya Ukichiro (1900-1962) was a physicist known for his research on snow and ice. He was the first person in the world to successfully create artificial snow, for which he was awarded the Imperial Academy Prize. Nakaya left behind many essays, including Snow, which is famous for the line, “Snowflakes are letters from heaven.”
Nakaya Ukichiro (Photo courtesy of Nakaya Ukichiro Museum of Snow and Ice)
Related websites
Great People of Kanazawa Memorial Museum
Nakaya Ukichiro Museum of Snow and Ice
Kawai Yoshinari and Shoriki Matsutaro
Graduates who have made a name for themselves in the business world include Kawai Yoshinari and Shoriki Matsutaro, who were classmates at Shiko. Kawai Yoshinari (1886-1970) was a businessman and politician who is said to be the father of the revival of Komatsu Ltd. As a central figure in the Sansanjuku (official dormitory), he played an active role as a leader in the early 1900s, when the tradition of transcendentalism was established as the school ethos of Shiko. Shoriki Matsutaro (1885-1969) was the owner of the Yomiuri Shimbun and a businessman known as the father of Japanese professional baseball. While attending Shiko, he was a member of the judo club and played against the Third Higher School (the predecessor of Kyoto University) as part of the “Southern Army”. He defeated the opposing team’s captain and became a hero throughout Kanazawa.
Judo Club Training Journal Southern Army
Taniguchi Yoshiro and Tsuchikawa Motoo
Meiji Mura Museum, located in Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, was created by two classmates at Shiko, Taniguchi Yoshiro (1904-1979) and Tsuchikawa Motoo (1903-1974).
Tsuchikawa, who was the president of Meitetsu at the time, agreed with world-renowned architect Taniguchi’s strong desire to preserve Meiji-era architecture, and raised the funds, leading to the opening of Meiji Mura in 1965. The Shiko martial arts hall, Museido, and physics and chemistry classroom have been relocated there. The red brick main building of Shiko still exists today as the Ishikawa Shiko High School Memorial Cultural Exchange Center, which houses a permanent exhibition on graduates of Shiko.
The Shiko physics and chemistry classroom relocated to Meiji Mura (Photo courtesy of Meiji Mura Museum)
Related Websites
Yoshiro and Yoshio Taniguchi Museum of Architecture, Kanazawa
The content of this page is the same as the panel exhibited in the “Shiko no Mori” at Kanazawa University Central Library.
Created in April 2025 by the Working Group on Collections, Kanazawa University Library.