Government official. Served as the first governor of Ogasawara (Bonin) Island after the Japanese re-colonization during the Meiji regime. Obana first went to Ogasawara Island in 1861. He remained on the island as an official, and assisted in developing the islands, negotiating with the Euro-American natives and facilitating the immigration of settlers from Hachijôjima, but, along with all the new Japanese settlers, was forced to return to Japan in May of 1863. In December of 1876 he returned once more as part of the new Meiji government's re-colonization of the islands, and was appointed the first local administrator of the Ministry of the Interior's Ogasawara branch office, serving in that capacity until November of 1880, when the islands were incorporated into the Tokyo metropolis. The "Obana Bridge" on Chichijima commemorates his role in the Japanese settlement of Ogasawara.
Government official. Served as the first governor of Ogasawara (Bonin) Island after the Japanese re-colonization during the Meiji regime. Obana first went to Ogasawara Island in 1861. He remained on the island as an official, and assisted in developing the islands, negotiating with the Euro-American natives and facilitating the immigration of settlers from Hachijôjima, but, along with all the new Japanese settlers, was forced to return to Japan in May of 1863. In December of 1876 he returned once more as part of the new Meiji government's re-colonization of the islands, and was appointed the first local administrator of the Ministry of the Interior's Ogasawara branch office, serving in that capacity until November of 1880, when the islands were incorporated into the Tokyo metropolis. The "Obana Bridge" on Chichijima commemorates his role in the Japanese settlement of Ogasawara.
Bio by: Warrick L. Barrett
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