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Akiba Daisuke was born in Tokyo in 1843.
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Akiba Daisuke
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He improved on the rickshaw devised by Kosuke Takayama, Yosuke Izumi and Tokujiro Suzuki, all of whom were Cartwrights in 1870-71. The rickshaw he evolved in 1874, with an awning supported by four poles, looked much like today’s. The next year, he introduced further improvements, including a hood and mudguards. Besides maintaining a rickshaw service on the fashionable Ginza in downtown Tokyo, he manufactured and sold the vehicles. Calling his vehicle Daisuke rickshaw, he rapidly expanded his business, opening a branch office in Osaka. He exported many rickshaws to China and other countries.
