Mineralogy, geology and mining engineering were initiated in Japan with the courses given by German mining engineer Karl Schenk at the Kaisei Gakko established in 1873. Among the collections inherited from the Kaisei Gakko, numerous mineral and rock specimens imported from the Krantz Mineralien-Kontor company in Germany still remain today. Thanks to the active specimen collection conducted by Schenk’s disciples Bunjiro Koto and Tsunashiro Wada, as well as their successors, an enormous collection of minerals, rocks and ores was formed at the University of Tokyo.