Kanda Takahira
Kanda Takahira was a scholar and advisor on economics and governmental structure in Meiji period Japan. His translation of William Ellis's Outlines of Social Economy, which he translated to Japanese from a Dutch edition in 1867, is regarded as Japan's earliest study of western economics.
His many other works include An Outline of Natural Law, a volume published in 1871 which he edited based on Nishi Amane's lecture notes which in turn drew from Dutch economist Simon Vissering.
Early life and education
Kanda was born in the Fuwa District of Mino Province,. He studied rangaku and taught algebra. In 1855, he started meeting with Katsuragawa Hoshū II and Yanagawa Shunsan to work on the Collected Dutch Words, a Dutch–Japanese dictionary.In 1862, he became a scholar at the Tokugawa shogunate's Institute for the Study of Barbarian Books, researching western science and technology.
Career
After the Meiji Restoration, Kanda worked for the new Meiji government in many roles including general-affairs official of the Bureau of Institutional Investigation. He was appointed governor of Hyōgo Prefecture.In 1869, he proposed adoption of a Chinese-style civil service examination system which was rejected, although exams were later introduced for professional appointments. In 1870, Kanda drew on the taxation section of Outlines of Social Economy to propose land tax reforms, which were later implemented during the Land Tax Reforms of 1873. He also established local administration structures. He was a charter member of the Meiji Six Society established in 1873.
He served in the Council of Elders, and was afterwards appointed to the House of Peers in 1890. He was ennobled with the title of danshaku in the kazoku peerage system.
In 1887, Kanda was appointed the first president of the Anthropological Society of Tokyo. An avid collector of ancient stone implements, he was the author of the illustrated catalog Notes on Ancient Stone Implements, &c., of Japan ''.''