The History of the Osaka City Port Construction Office—From the Overview of Osaka Port Construction Works

 

The development of Osaka Port as a modern Port began with the establishment of the Osaka City Port Authority Office. This office was first set up within the Kawaguchi Settlement on September 1, 1897 (Meiji 30). The following year, it relocated to the former artillery battery site in Tenpōchō, West Ward. The first director was Mr. Sutezou　Nishimura. At the office's founding, Tadao Okino served as Chief Engineer, Heinosuke Ueki as Engineer (later succeeded by Tadanobu Oka), and Kimitake Furuichi as Advisor. The project commenced with approximately 20 members, including clerical staff, assembling a distinguished group representing Japan's civil engineering community at the time. After Mr. Nishimura served as director for five years and five months until 1903 (Meiji 36) and stepped down, successive mayors took on the director role concurrently. To borrow the words of Dr. Jinichiro Matsunami, previously introduced: "The Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Commerce and the Governor of Osaka Prefecture became commissioned officials of the Osaka City Office... ...the Port Construction Office commission was at the level of a section chief..." This implies the mayor concurrently held a position equivalent to a section chief. The port construction project, with a scale approximately 20 times Osaka City's annual budget at the time, and the mayor's concurrent role, clearly demonstrate how crucial Osaka Port Construction was for the city.
Subsequently, in 1911 (Meiji 44), the Port Division was established, with Mr. Shojiro Tagawa, a top graduate of the University of Tokyo, appointed as its chief. Mr. Tagawa visited and surveyed ports in Europe and America, compiling a report on his observations of major commercial ports in those regions (I hope to introduce its contents in a future installment). In 1914 (Taisho 3), the organization became the Port Department. Until Seki Hajime, then Deputy Mayor, recruited Naoki Rintaro from Tokyo, the Deputy Mayor of Osaka City concurrently served as Department Director. Deputy Mayor Takigawa in 1929 (Showa 4) held the position for only about one month, the shortest tenure. Kondo Hiroo subsequently became Port Department Director and later became the first publicly elected Mayor of Osaka after the war. At the end of World War II, Yoshinori Miyauchi was Director. Two years after the war, in July 1947 (Showa 22), following the enactment of the new Local Autonomy Act, the Osaka City Administrative Division Ordinance was established. To expand and strengthen technical aspects related to reconstruction, the Port Bureau was established, with Takeo Hori appointed as its first Director. The Osaka City Port Bureau continued for 73 years until it became the Osaka Port Bureau in 2020. Throughout this period, port construction in Osaka remained a consistently major undertaking for the city.

（Japanese）

大阪築港事務所の系譜　阪築港工事概要より　

近代港湾としての大阪築港は、大阪市築港事務所の開設に始まる。同事務所は、明治30年（1897年）9月1日川口居留地内に設置されたのが始まりである。翌年には西区天保町の旧砲台内に移転した。初代所長は、西村捨三翁であり、事務所発足当時は、工事長として沖野忠夫、技師として植木平之允、後に岡胤信、顧問として古市公威の名前もあがっており、当時、日本の土木界の蒼々たるメンバーを集め、事務員を含めて20名程度で事業を開始した。西村翁が明治36年まで5年5か月所長を勤め退任した後は、歴代市長が所長を兼務することとなったが、前回紹介した、松波仁一朗博士の弁をかりれば「農商務省次官、大阪府知事が大阪市役所の嘱託吏となったが…築港事務所嘱託はヤット係長辺のところなるに…」からすると市長が係長辺を兼務していたことになる。築港事業は、当時大阪市の年間予算の約20倍の事業規模であり、市長が兼任するなど、大阪築港がいかに大阪市にとって最重要事業であったことがうかがえる。

その後、明治44年(1911)に港湾課が設置され、東大主席卒の田川正二郎氏が課長に就任した。田川氏は欧米諸港を訪問、調査し欧米の主要商港を視察した報告書をまとめている（できれば、次回以降に内容を紹介したい）。その後大正３年(1914)に組織が港湾部となり、当時助役の関一氏が、東京都より直木倫太郎氏を招聘するまで、大阪市助役が部長を兼任した。昭和4年の滝川助役は約１カ月のみの就任で最短である。その後の近藤博夫氏が港湾部長となり、後に戦後最初の公選大阪市長となっている。第２次世界大戦終結時は宮内義則氏が部長となっており、終戦２年後の昭和22年7月(1947)に、新たな地方自治法の制定に伴い、大阪市事務分掌条例が制定され、復興関係の技術面での拡充、強化を図るため、港湾局が設置され、堀威夫氏が部長から初代局長に就任した。その後、令和２年(2020)現在の大阪港湾局となるまで、大阪市港湾局は７３年続いた。その間も大阪築港は大阪市の常に主要事業であり続けた