Former the main building of Fuel Research Institute
This time I will write about what I researched to make pop-up cards. The card will be made in the future.
There used to be a national facility called the Fuel Research Laboratory in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture.
The Fuel Research Institute was established in 1920 to conduct research on fuels such as coal and oil. At the time of its establishment, the institute was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce.
The site for the institute was selected on the west side of Kawaguchi-machi Station (now Kawaguchi Station) in the Kawaguchi Town (now, Kawaguchi City), Saitama Prefecture. About 15,000 tsubo (49.5 ha) of land that had been rice paddies was acquired, and the land was filled in using soil left over from the construction of the Arakawa River embankment.
Construction of the main office building and general analysis room was completed in 1921, and in the following year, laboratories, warehouses, and government buildings were built.
The following year, laboratories, warehouses, and government buildings were built.
I post a photo of the main building.
The main building, a two-story reinforced concrete structure with a five-story tower, was designed by Jin Watanabe (1887-1973) and constructed by Takeda-gumi.
The clock tower was also nicknamed “Cigar".
The facility was subsequently expanded, and the number of staff gradually increased from 19 at the time of its establishment. （The number of employees had grown to 240, according to postwar figures 1950.)
In 1925, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry was created and the institute became under its jurisdiction.
During the World War II, the institute conducted research on the production aviation fuel from pine oil and on the production of substitute fuel oil by treating coal with a solvent, and so on.
In November 1943, the Ministry of Munitions was established and the institute came under its jurisdiction, but after the war, the Ministry of Munitions was abolished and the institute returned to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Immediately after the war, the institute focused on research into the use of lignite coal to improve energy shortages.
In August 1948, the Industrial Technology Agency was established as an external bureau of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the institute became under it.
The following year, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry was abolished and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry was established.
The next photo was from the book “Fuel Research Institute’s 30th Anniversary" in 1951. The appearance of the building can be seen more clearly in this photo than in the first one. And there is no indication that any expansion or remodeling had taken place.
In April 1952, the Fuel Research Institute and the Mining Research Laboratory were merged to form the Resources Technology Laboratory. The Mining Technology Institute had just been established in 1947.
The Fuel Research Laboratory conducted comprehensive research on the conservation, development, and utilization of underground resources.
Although these were the facilities as of 1962, in addition to the main office in Kawaguchi City, there was an Ukima Branch Office in Kita-ku, Tokyo, a Kyushu Branch Office in Nogata City, Fukuoka Prefecture, an experimental coal mine in Usui Town (now Kama City), Fukuoka Prefecture, and a Hokkaido Branch Office in Sapporo City.
In 1970, the organization was changed again. The pollution research division was expanded and the laboratory was renamed the “(National) Research Institute for Pollution and Resources".
The institute conducted research on the development and utilization of resources and energy, industrial security, and environmental pollution control technology.
In 1979, the institute began relocating from Kawaguchi City to Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture (completed in March 1980).
In 1991, the organization was reorganized as the Research Institute of Mineral Resources and Environmental Technology, and in 2001, when the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) was established, it was incorporated as a division of the AIST. The name of the division has been changed several times, and since 2020, it has been known as the Environmental Creation Research Division.
The following photograph is an aerial view of the west side of Kawaguchi Station taken in 1979. (From GSI website).
The building indicated by the arrow is the former main office building of the Fuel Research Institute.
This building and the large buildings on the west side of the railroad tracks were all part of the institute’s site.
After the Pollution Resources Research Institute moved to the new location, Kawaguchi City formulated the “Kawaguchi Station Area Urban Development Concept” in 1983.
The former site of the institute was disposed of to Kawaguchi City and the Housing and Urban Development Corporation, and it appears that all buildings were demolished in 1987.
On the site, housing, commercial facilities, the civic hall “Kawaguchi Sogo Bunka Center", Kawaguchi West Park, and a parking lot were developed, and construction was completed in 1992.
A recent aerial photo is also included for comparison, taken in 2019.
Although not precisely aligned, the location of the main building of the Research Institute for Pollution and Resources is now the flat area on the west side of the Kawaguchi Sogo Bunka Center. The green space on the west side of the building has a municipal parking lot built underground, and the ground level is a park. (*This sentence was corrected on June 10.)
It has been completely transformed, and no trace of the institute remains.
However, as a reminder of the old building, Kawaguchi City has installed a monument to the former Research Institute for Pollution and Resources on the north wall of the municipal parking lot. It can also be seen on Street View. (The link was taken in 2020)）
Now, I will start designing the card. I will post it on the main website when it is ready.
[Reference]
“Fuel Research Institute’s 30th Anniversary" (ed. Fuel Research Institute of the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology/1951)
“Annual Report of the Resources Technology Research Laboratory", 1960 (National Resources Technology Research Laboratory, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology/1962)