The is the Japanese name for a type of generator of static electricity used for electric experiments in the 18th century. In Japan,

Hiraga Gennai was a Japanese polymath and ''rōnin'' of the Edo period. He was a pharmacologist, student of ''Rangaku'', author, painter and inventor well known for his '' Erekiteru'' (electrostatic generator), ''Kandankei'' (thermometer) and ''Kakanpu'' ...

presented his own ''erekiteru'' in 1776, derived from an ''erekiteru'' from Holland. The ''erekiteru'' consists of a small box that uses the power of

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. Types of friction include dry, fluid, lubricated, skin, and internal -- an incomplete list. The study of t ...

to generate electricity and store it. The ''erekiteru'' relied on the various Western experiments with static electricity during the 18th century, which depended on the discovery that electricity could be generated through friction, and on the invention of the

Leyden jar A Leyden jar (or Leiden jar, or archaically, Kleistian jar) is an electrical component that stores a high-voltage electric charge (from an external source) between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. It typically co ...

in the 1740s, as a convenient means to store static electricity in rather large quantities."電気の実験が盛んになったのは、18世紀になりガラス版の円盤を摩擦する強力な起電機と、1740年代なかばのライデン瓶の発明によります": "The development of experiments with electricity, relied on the creation of powerful static electricity through the friction of a glass cylinder, and the invention of the Leyden jar in the 1740s" Suzuki, p.68 Hiraga Gennai acquired an ''erekiteru'' from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

during his second trip to

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

in 1770, and made a formal demonstration of his ''erekiteru'' in 1776. The ''erekiteru'' has been recognized as IEEE Milestone in 2024. Its title is "Elekiteru: First Electrostatic Generator in Japan, 1776".

Its citation reads as follows. ''In 1776, a friction-induced electrostatic generator was first demonstrated in Japan by Gennai Hiraga after he spent six years repairing and restoring a broken device imported from the Netherlands. His improved design was later called the Elekiteru, and its widespread demonstration in Japan inspired the country's first generation of electricity researchers. Hiraga's Elekiterus have been displayed in Tokyo and in Kagawa Prefecture, respectively.''

References

* Suzuki, Kazuyoshi (2006) ''Edo Technology'' (Japanese: 見て楽しむ江戸のテクノロジー), Suuken Publishing, 18th century in Japan Technology in Medieval Japan History of science and technology in Japan {{japan-hist-stub

See also

References

References