Frederick Ringer’s Asphalt Path

Frederick Ringer, owner of the Former Ringer House on the hills above Nagasaki, had this asphalt path installed in 1906 so he could travel by rickshaw despite serious heart disease. At the time, asphalt was almost unknown in Japan, where most roads were stone or gravel, and it would not become common nationwide until the 1920s. The rickshaw itself was a Japanese invention from the late 19th century, with the word derived from jin-riki-sha, meaning human-powered cart, and it remained the dominant personal transport in Japanese cities until automobiles and trams took over. The path is a small but oddly vivid window into how a private need quietly introduced new technology to a city.