Hirayama Fireworks Catalog

The Hirayama Fireworks Factory is a fireworks company jointly established in Yokohama in 1877 by Jinta Hirayama from Mikawa and Shigeho Iwata from Buzen Nakatsu.
It seems that fireworks orders were received not only from Japan but also from overseas, and there is a catalog for export created for sale overseas.
On Sunday, July 31, 2011, a lecture was held at the Chuo-toshokan B1F Hall, inviting Mr. Takashi Sakurai of the Patent Office as a lecturer.
At the Web Gallery of Digital Archive Yokohama's Memory, you can see six fireworks catalogs issued by Hirayama Fireworks Works and one explanation of the use of daytime fireworks.

Web gallery "The World of Hirayama Fireworks Catalog: Jinta Hirayama, the first Japanese fireworks artist to obtain U.S. patent"
(Digital Archive Yokohama's Memory)　
URL:　https://archive.lib.city.yokohama.lg.jp/museweb/detail?cls=web_gallery &pkey=0000002 (external site)

The patent system was launched in Japan in 1885 due to the enforcement of the monopoly patent ordinance and the establishment of a monopoly patent office. After that, in 1899, he joined the Paris Convention and participated in the international patent protection framework. The earliest patented Japanese invention patented in the United States after the Paris Treaty came into effect, was the "water pipe boiler" filed by Jiro Miyahara.
Now, the problem here is whether there was a person who filed a patent in the United States before Miyahara, before Japan entered the international patent protection framework, and even in an era when there was no patent system in Japan. When I asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to provide information, there was a Japanese who patented in 1883. It is Jinta Hirayama, and the name of the invention is "daytime fireworks".

Jinta Hirayama, the first Japanese person to obtain a U.S. patent in Meiji 16 (1883), was born in Toyohashi on January 13, 1840. I was working for the Mikawa Yoshida clan, but I went to Yokohama early on and worked on various businesses. The Hirayama Fireworks Factory was established in Takashimacho around 1877, followed by U.S. patent in 1883. In 1890, he moved to his hometown Toyohashi, and died at the age of 60 in Meiji 33 (1900).
Before obtaining the U.S. patent, in 1877, he tried to apply for a patent with U.K. in the 100 Years of Industrial Property Rights System (first volume) (S59.3).

Well, what was Jinta's invention?
According to records by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the invention was named "Daylight Fire-works." It's "daytime fireworks". As the name suggests, it was a fireworks that was raised in the daytime, not at night, and when it exploded, dolls and other creatures pop out. Explosives and fuses were attached to the outer skin filled with designs made of Japanese paper, etc., and when ignited, the outer skin was released into the air, and the contents were released.

Let's take a look at some of them.
Hirayama Fireworks Works publishes fireworks catalogs for export. Chuo-toshokan has seven catalogs of 6 types, allowing visitors to see what the contents of "daytime fireworks" made of paper and other materials were from colorful illustrations.

Web gallery "The World of Hirayama Fireworks Catalog: Jinta Hirayama, the first Japanese fireworks artist to obtain US patent" (outside site)

How did Jinta go through the procedures for obtaining patents in the United States in an era when there was no patent system in Japan?
The documents are exchanged through the proxy/agent of the United States, and the oath required for application was signed by Deputy Consul General Rice at the Kanagawa Consulate in the United States in December 1882. In March 1883, a patent application was filed, but this will be rejected due to inadequate documents. I re-created the document and submitted it for the second time in June, and it was in August that it was fine and patented.

Prior to Japan's participation in the Paris Convention, there were only three patents filed by Japanese people from Japan and obtained in the United States, including Jinta Hirayama. The Japanese's point of view at that time would not have reached the point of obtaining patents overseas and linking them to business.
In this context, Hirayama's speed of overseas business strategies is emerging as a pioneer in global business in Japan.