Dan Naoki 弾 直樹

Dan Naoki (1823-1889) was the 13th Danzaemon (弾左衛門), a title attributed to the chieftain of the Eta. 

The Eta were people who belonged to the Burakumin caste (who descended from the Hinin or non-human group), an hereditary status or untouchability under the caste system of the Tokugawa. They worked as executionners, tanners, butchers, undertakers, etc., occupations considered 'unclean' in Buddhism as associated with defilement (kegare 穢れ). 

Naoki Dan held leather privileges from the end of the Edo Shogunate. He contributed significantly to the dawn and development of the leather and shoemaking industries. 

As leather was a military product, the government entrusted everything to him. He set up a factory in Takinogawa, Kita-ku (near Oji Station) in September 1872, but as leather production required large amounts of water, the leather factory was moved to Asakusa, where the Sumida River is located (where the Human Rights Plaza is now) in 1872. Many leather goods-related enterprises, including shoes, gathered around the factory, which became the foundation of the present-day Asakusa shoe industry. 

(Ref. Shoepara 2017.08.30)