Mitsukuri Gempo

Mitsukuri Gempo

Mitsukuri Gempo ( Japanese 箕作阮甫 ; born 5. October 1799 in Tsuyama ( Okayama Prefecture ), died 1. August 1863 ) was a Japanese physician and scholar.

Live and act

Mitsukuri Gempo studied traditional Chinese medicine in Kyoto and in 1822 succeeded his father as chief physician of the Matsudaira ruling in Tsuyama . He then studied Western medicine in Edo under Udagawa Genshin (1769-1834). In 1834 he opened a training school in Edo, but fires and poor health led him to turn to translating.

When Koseki San'ei (小 関 三 英) committed suicide in 1839 on the occasion of the “Hell for Western Scholars”, Gempo was hired as the official translator from Dutch by the overseer of astronomy (天文 方; Temmongata) at the court of the Shogun. He was a member of the mission that negotiated in Nagasaki in 1853 with the Russian Admiral Pujatin about official access to the country. The following year he took part in negotiations with the American that led to the Kanagawa Treaty .

In 1856, Gempo became an instructor at the newly founded Bansho Shirabesho , a training center for the "western sciences" founded by the Tokugawa shogunate . Gempo authored many books on Western medicine and translated Western technology books.

Publications (selection)

• "Taisei meii ikō" (泰西 名医 彙 講) - "Famous doctors of the West, a summary" as a periodical
• "Geka hitsudoku" (外科 必 読) - "The most important thing about surgery"
• "Sanka kammei" (産科 簡明) - "Obstetrics, short and sweet"
• "Oranda colored" (和 蘭 文 典) - "Grammar of Dutch"
• "Hakkō tsūshi" (八 紘 通誌) - "Information about the world"
• "Kyokusei shiei" (極 西 史 影) - "History of the Far West"
• “Suishōsen setsuryaku” (水 蒸 船 説 略) - “Brief explanation of the steamer” at the request of Shimazu Nariakira
• "Seisai kikō" (西征 紀行) - "Travel description of the West" (probably based on " The Journey to the West ")

Remarks

1. ↑ "Hell for Western scholars" - "Bansha no goku" (蛮 社 の 獄) was an action which was directed against the members of the "faithful to Western scholars" (蛮 学 社 忠, Bangakushachū). Leaders like Watanabe Kazan were placed under house arrest and committed suicide.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Mitsukuri Gempo . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 984.

Web links

• Mitsukuri, short résumé

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Mitsukuri is the family name, Gempo the first name.