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The Imperial College of Engineering (工部大学校, Kōbudaigakkō) was a Japanese institution of higher education that was founded during the Meiji era. The college was established under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Works for the training of young Japanese engineers.
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Josiah Conder (28 September 1852 – 21 June 1920) was a British-French architect who was hired by the Meiji Japanese government as a professor of architecture for the Imperial College of Engineering and became architect of Japan's Public Works. He started his own practice after 1888.
Conder designed numerous public buildings in Tokyo, including the Rokumeikan, which became a controversial symbol of Westernisation in the Meiji period. He educated young Japanese architects, notably Tatsuno Kingo and Katayama Tōkuma, earning him the nickname "father of Japanese modern architecture."
Katayama Tōkuma (片山 東熊; 18 January 1854 – 24 October 1917) was a Japanese architect who designed the original buildings for the Imperial Nara Museum as well as the Kyoto Imperial Museum and was significant in introducing Western, particularly French architecture into Japan.
Coming from Chōshū, Tōkuma was a protégé of Yamagata Aritomo. In 1879 he graduated from the Imperial College of Engineering. During his late twenties and early thirties he assisted Josiah Conder in designing and building a Western-style residence for Prince Arisugawa Taruhito and then on the new Imperial Palace in Tokyo. During the 1880 he was sent to Europe and America to study interior decoration, including furniture. In 1887 he was appointed as an officer in the construction office of the Imperial Household.