Born at Mizusawa in Mutsu (Ōshū, Iwate), he was later adopted into the Takano family of doctors.
He went to Edo to study Dutch learning and medicine.
He studied at Siebold's Narutaki school in Nagasaki and became an outstanding pupil.
The Siebold Incident broke out, but Chōei escaped trouble.
He opened a medical practice in Edo and joined Watanabe Kazan and others in studying foreign affairs.
Learning of the Morrison Incident, he wrote Bojutsu Yume Monogatari, criticizing the shogunate's policy of firing on foreign ships.
Arrested in the Bansha Purge, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
When fire broke out at the prison he escaped and went on the run, reportedly disfiguring his face with chemicals to hide.
Sheltered by Date Munenari, lord of Uwajima, he translated Western military books.
Found by officials while hiding in Edo, he lost his life (said to have taken it himself; accounts vary).
Watanabe KazanPhilipp Franz von SieboldHirose Tanso
Udagawa YōanTokugawa NariakiEgawa HidetatsuKawaji ToshiakiraTownsend HarrisFujita TokoShimazu NariakiraYokoi Shōnan
People of the Edo period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.