(Born: Obama, province Wakasa, Japan, 15 March 1856; Died: Tokyo, Japan, 20 December 1920) Japanese mining expert & mineralogist.

In 1876, while still a student, Wada wrote a textbook of mineralogy and in the next year a textbook of crystallography. Both of these became popular references at Japanese Universities. In 1878, after completing studies at the University of Tokyo, he entered into the Home department. There, in 1880, he became director of the Geological Survey and in 1889 the Mining Bureau. From 1885 to 1891, Wada also took on the role of professor of mineralogy and lithology at the University of Tokyo. Wada retired to private life in 1893. By request of the Emperor, he was admitted to the House of Peers in 1917. The large mineral collection he accumulated throughout his life was acquired by the University of Tokyo.

Biographical references: American Mineralogist: 6 (1921), 109-13 [by G.F. Kunz]. • Japan Biographical Encyclopedia: 1822. • Mineralogical Magazine: 19 (1920), 258-9, portrait. • Sarjeant, Geologists, 1980: 3, 2357.

1. Japanese, 1877.
Kinseki shikibetsuhyo. Wada Koreshiro henshu. Tokyo Daigaku Rigakubu, Meiji 10 [1877].

8°: 48, 167 p., illus.

Very scarce. Mineralogy, Determinative.

Nihon Kōbutsushi, 1904

2. Japanese, 1904 [First edition].
Nihon Kōbutsushi [Minerals of Japan]. Tōkyō: 1904.

8°: [16], 324, 5 p., illus. Very scarce.

3. Japanese, 1916 [2nd edition].
Nihon Kōbutsushi [Minerals of Japan]. Tōkyō: 1916.

8°: [16], 357, 35, 4, 5 p., illus. Very scarce.

4. Japanese, 1947 [3rd edition].
Wada's | Minerals of Japan | Third Edition | Revised and entirely rewritten | by | T. Ito and K. Sakurai | Mineralogical Institute, University of Tokyo | 1947 | Tokyo.

8°: [4], [i]-v, [1] blank, [2], [1]-368, [1], [1] blank p., 18 plates showing 36 photographs, text illus. Page size: 255 x 175 mm.

Very scarce. Edited and expanded edition by Teiichi Ito and Kinichi Sakurai [see notes below]. Although there is a title page in English, the remainder of the book is in Japanese. Persumably published with the authority of the American occupation forces after the war.

Bibliographical references: NUC: 643, 635 [NW 0004655].

Minerals of Japan, 1904

5. English, 1904 [English transl.].
Minerals Of Japan | by | Tsunashirō Wada | [...3 lines of titles and memberships...] Translated | by | Takudzi Ogawa | Geologist of the Imperial Geological Survey | Tōkyō | 1904 | All rights reserved.

8°: [4], [i]-vii, [1], [1]-144, [2] p., 30 (i.e. 31) plates. Each plate has a tissue guard with a brief description. Page size: 262 x 172 mm.

Contents: [2 pages], Half title page, "Minerals Of Japan," verso blank.; [2 pages], Title page, verso blank.; [i]-iii, "Preface"-signed Tsunashirō Wada, Tōkyō, 31 July 1904.; [iv], Blank.; [v]-vi, "Contents."; vii, "Plates."; [1 page], Blank.; [1]-142, Text.; [143]-144, "Index."; [31 plates on 30 leaves, each with descriptive letter press tissue].; [1 page], Title of the work in Japanese.; [1 page], Blank.

Very scarce. Translated by Takudzi Ogawa from Nihon Kōbutsushi (Tōkyō, 1904). This work gives one of the few accounts in English of the mineralogy of Japan. Notwithstanding the comparitively small geographic size of Japan and the fact that its mineral resources are limited, the country has produced a large number of mineral species, many of them of peculiar interest either because of rarity or of the beauty of their crystallization. This volume provides an excellent summary of the subject. Concise accounts of the species known to occur are given together with exact statements about localities and numerous chemical analyses. A series of fine black and white heliotype plates illustrate notable specimens, such as the well known quartz twins, fine stibnites and topaz crystals.

Takudzi Ogawa. (Born: Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, 1870; Died: Tokyo, Japan, 1941) Japanese geologist. Father of Yukawa Hideki, Nobel Laureate in phyics. In 1896, Takudzi graduated from the University of Tokyo. He then entered goverment service and carried out several geological surveys. In 1908, he was appointed to the geology chair at the newly formed Kyōto University.

Bibliographical references: American Journal of Science: 1st Series, 19 (1905), 89-90. • Dana's 7th (Bibliography): 82. • NUC: 643, 635 [NW 0004635]. (Ogawa) Encyclopedia of Japan: 6, 70. • Japan Biographical Encyclopedia: 1121-2.

6. German & English, 1905-15.
Beiträge | zur | Mineralogie von Japan | Herausgegeben | von | T. Wada | [rule] | Nummer 1-5 | [rule] | 1905-1915 | [ornate rule] | Tōkyō.

8°: [4], [1]-3, [3], [1]-305, [1] p., plates, illus. Supplement to Wada's Minerals of Japan. Prefactory note in German, the text is in English. Page size: 254 x 172 mm.

Contents: [2 pages], Title page, in German, verso blank.; [2 pages], Title page in English, verso blank.; [1]-3, "Contents."; [1 page], Blank.; [1 page], "Ankündigung."-signed Tsunashiro Wada, January 1905.; [1 page], Blank.; [1]-305, Text.; [1 page], Blank.

Very scarce. Contains supplements 1 to 5 of the author's Minerals of Japan (Tōkyō, 1904). It consists of short articles and notes by Wada and others on new discoveries about the mineralogy of Japan. The articles are in German and English.

Bibliographical references: Dana's 7th (Bibliography): 82. • NUC: 643, 635 [NW 0004657].

7. Japanese, 1935-7.
Beiträge | zur | Mineralogie von Japan | Begründet von T. Wada | Neue Folge | I [-II] | Herausgegeben von T. Ito | Mineralogisches Institut der Universität Tokio | Tokio | 1935 [-1937].

2 parts. [Part 1: 1935] 4°: [i]-vii, [1], [i]-xviii, [1]-259, [3] p., frontispiece (portrait of Wada), one map.; [Part 2: 1937] 4°: [i]-xi, [1], [1]-168, [2] p., 8 plates, one folding map. Page size: 256 x 184 mm.

Contents: [Part 1] [i-ii], Blank, verso title page in German.; [iii-iv], Title page in Japanese, verso copyright information.; [Frontispiece].; [v]-vii, "Contents."; [1 page], Blank.; [Folding map].; [i]-xviii, "Summary And Review | By | T. Ito."; [1]-259, Text [all in Japanese].; [1 page], Blank.; [1 page], Text in Japanese.; [1 page], Blank.

[Part 2] [i-ii], Blank, verso title page in German.; [iii-iv], Title page in Japanese, verso copyright information.; [Plate I].; [v]-vii, Preface in Japanese.; [viii]-xi, Contents in Japanese.; [1 page], Text in Japanese.; [1]-145, Text [all in Japanese].; [146], "Index to Minerals Described."; [147]-168, "Summary and Review | By | T. Ito."; [Folding map].; [1 page], Text in Japanese.; [1 page], Blank.

Very scarce. New supplementary volumes prepared by Teiichi Ito [see note above] to continue on the Minerals of Japan first begun by Wada. Emphasis is placed on describing mineral occurances and deposits of strategic importance. Covered are gold, copper, zinc, tin, zirconium as well as the species covellite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, tetrahedrite, calcite, cerussite, etc. A fine portrait of Wada is used as a frontispiece to the first part.

Bibliographical references: Dana's 7th (Bibliography): 82.

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