Who was this person?
An Edo-period physician and scholar of Dutch learning. Born into a family of doctors to the Obama domain, in 1771 he watched a dissection with Maeno Ryōtaku and others and was struck by the accuracy of the Dutch anatomy book known as Tabulae Anatomicae. Translating it without a dictionary, they published Kaitai Shinsho in 1774; late in life he described the struggle in Rangaku Kotohajime.
| Name | Sugita Genpaku (杉田玄白) |
|---|---|
| Born–died | 1733 – 1817 |
| Period | Edo period |
| Birthplace | Obama domain residence in Ushigome, Edo (now Shinjuku, Tokyo) |
| Also known as | Isai, Kyūkō-ō |
| Main achievements |
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Born at the Edo residence of the Obama domain of Wakasa (Fukui), son of a domain doctor.
Around this time he began studying Dutch-style surgery and came to doubt the anatomical drawings in Chinese medical books.
With Maeno Ryōtaku, Nakagawa Jun'an and others he watched a dissection at Kozukappara in Edo, astonished at how accurate the Dutch anatomy book Ontleedkundige Tafelen was.
He began translating at once with his comrades. With almost no dictionaries, working out a single word reportedly took a whole day at times.
After great labour he published the Kaitai Shinsho, Japan's first full translation of a Western medical work, which spurred the spread of Dutch learning.
Around this time he opened a medical school, the Tenshinrō, at his home, training many pupils such as Ōtsuki Gentaku.
In old age he recalled the toils of translating the Kaitai Shinsho in Rangaku Kotohajime.
He died in Edo, in his eighties.
A. An Edo-period physician and scholar of Dutch learning. Born into a family of doctors to the Obama domain, in 1771 he watched a dissection with Maeno Ryōtaku and others and was struck by the accuracy of the Dutch anatomy book known as Tabulae Anatomicae. Translating it without a dictionary, they published Kaitai Shinsho in 1774; late in life he described the struggle in Rangaku Kotohajime.
A. Period: Edo period. Born in 1733, died in 1817.
A. Sugita Genpaku was born in Obama domain residence in Ushigome, Edo (now Shinjuku, Tokyo).
A. A Japanese translation of a Dutch anatomy book, published in 1774. Words such as shinkei ("nerve") were coined for it, and it gave a great boost to Japanese medicine and Dutch learning.
See also: Wikipedia (ja) / Wikipedia (en) / Wikipedia (fr) / Wikipedia (zh) / Wikidata
Follow this life (autoplay)Maeno RyōtakuŌtsuki GentakuHiraga Gennai
Ike no TaigaSuzuki HarunobuHiraga GennaiMotoori NorinagaMaruyama ŌkyoUeda AkinariHayashi ShiheiInō Tadataka
People of the Edo period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.