Regarding the Proposal to Re-Establish the Ministry of Public Works in the Meiji 30’s

This paper examines the 1902 proposal “Kōbu-shō wo secchi suru koto”, analyzes its historical context and significance. Drafted after April 1902 as a counter to the Ministry of Finance’s Eizen-kyoku (Bureau of Building Works) plan, it focused on architecture and proposed a bureau alongside those for civil engineering, forestry, and railways. Although structurally similar to an 1898 proposal, it differed in technical specifications. Initiated by bureaucrat Yoshito OKUDA, it had no personnel or institutional continuity with the former Ministry of Public Works. While never implemented, its detailed personnel structure may have informed later frameworks for government building administration.