Today is "Electric anniversary" ... Let's look at the history of Japanese lights!(Blue Bucks Editorial Department) | Blue Bucks | Kodansha

"Science 365days" is a corner that introduces historical events in science, such as the birth of that scientist, the discovery of that phenomenon.

The beginning of Japanese electricity and the future

Today, March 25 is designated as an electric anniversary.Let's slip back in time in the Meiji era and look at the history of Japanese electricity.

Time was in 1878 (1878), when Japan was going to modernize to catch up with European and American powers.On March 25 of this year, the first electric light was taken in Japan.It was seven years after the introduction of Japan's first Western gas lamp in Osaka.

On this day, in Ginza, Tokyo, the opening ceremony of the Telegraph Central Bureau was held grandly, and the first electric light was set up in Japan to make the ceremony gorgeous.It was said that the Prime Minister, Hirofumi Ito, decided to use electric lamps at the time (the head of the Ministry of Engineering) at the time (the head of the Ministry of Engineering).

The ceremony was used by Dubosque arc lamps imported from France, and the employed foreigners, Airton, were in charge of maintenance.And on the day of the opening, electric lamps were involved in front of the great people in the venue, and they said, "I think I'm going to play in a bright Chinese city at night (even at night)."

One year later, in 1879, an incandescent bulb invented by Edison was imported to Japan, and on March 25, 1887, distribution to Japanese families began.Despite being tossed by the earthquake and war, the penetration rate of electricity gradually increased, and in the late 1950s, electric washing machines, electric refrigerators, and black -and -white TVs became popular in ordinary households.

At present, electricity is no longer indispensable to people's lives, but the burning of fossil fuels has caused greenhouse gases, leading to environmental destruction.It seems that we need to consider how to associate with electricity, including the adoption of "renewable energy" that uses the power of nature.