The role of Dutch civil engineering in modern port planning in Japan (1870s–1890s)

In the mid-nineteenth century, civil engineering and technological innovation began to play a major role in the modernization and westernization of Japan. From the 1870s to the 1890s, Dutch civil engineers worked with Japanese practitioners on the design of Japanese ports, a key starting point for urban development. This article explores the role of port and port city planning by Dutch civil engineers on the development of Japanese engineering and planning practice following modern construction methods and technology. It explores the degree to which port and water planning proposals that were associated with foreign forces influenced the development of civil engineering-inspired urban planning practice in Japan. The article examines three case studies of port planning: Nobiru, Mikuni and Yokohama. It shows that comprehensive planning proposals by the Dutch engineers, who combined water management and the construction of port basins and breakwaters with city development, were only partially implemented because they were not aligned with Japanese natural and technical conditions. Instead, Japanese professionals stripped the proposals of the urban context and adopted engineering technology. The fascine mattress technique for breakwaters and imported steam dredging machines became key elements for the construction of basins and the maintenance of modern port function.