Education
He graduated from Colorado College in 1904.
一柳米来留ひとつやなぎ めれる
He graduated from Colorado College in 1904.
Born in the United States, he later became a naturalized Japanese citizen. Merrell lived and worked mainly in Shiga prefecture in Japan. With only limited formal training as an architect, he founded an architectural office in Shiga which employed over thirty professional staff and was responsible for the design of well over 1000 residential, commercial, and church structures in Japan and occupied of Korea, prior to the Second World War.
Vories was born in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1880.
At first he hoped to be an architect, although he came to Japan in 1905 as an English-language teacher, with an intention to engage in Christian missionary work. Through Young Men’s Christian Association activities in Japan, Vories became acquainted with many American and Japanese people, and received numerous commissions to design houses, churches, schools, hospitals, and Young Men’s Christian Association facilities.
In 1917, Vories married the daughter of viscount Suenori Hitotsuyanagi, Makiko Hitotsuyanagi (一柳満喜子, Hitotsuyanagi Makiko, 1884-1969). He became a naturalized Japanese citizen in 1941, taking his wife"s family name of Hitotsuyanagi.
In 1918, he founded the Omi Mission, and devoted his efforts to Christian missionary work and education.
However, he was also an entrepreneur, and established Omi Sales Company in 1920, to promote an ointment named Mentholatum to earn funds to support his missionary work. The company was renamed Omi Brothers (近江兄弟社, Ōmi Kyōdaisha) in 1934. Vories also loved music, and is credited with introducing the Hammond Organ into Japan.
His house in Omi Hachiman is now the "Vories Commemorative Museum".