INTRODUCTION (TOMIO OGATA)

When Ieyasu Tokugawa (1542-1616) became the virtual ruler of Japan and was made the first Shōgun by the Emperor in 1603, he held the policy of encouraging foreign trade.  Many ships of such countries as Spain, Portugal, England and Holland came to the port of Hirado in Kyūshū.

Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1536-1598), who ruled Japan before the rise of Ieyasu, became suspicious of the rapid Christian propagation in the closing years of his rule and he issued edicts against it many times and oppressed the believers severely.  But the power of Christianity would not be suppressed.

About the time when Ieyasu's son, Hidetada, became the second Shōgun in 1605, not only the ban on Christianity and the oppression of the Christians were tightened, but the government took note of Christian propagation under the pretense of trading, and this too was prohibited (1618).  The third Shōgun, Iemitsu (1604-1651), ordered the closure of the British trading house in Hirado in 1623 and forbad the trading with Spain in 1624.

In May of 1634, the Shōgunate established a foreign settlement called Dejima in Nagasaki and ordered all the foreigners to live there, and at the same time, forbad all the Japanese to make voyages abroad or to believe in Christianity.  Thus by 1639, Japan's policy of isolation became complete.

In May 1641, the Dutch trading house which had been in Hirado was moved to Dejima or Nagasaki where they alone were allowed to live and trade.  Thus of all the Europeans, the Dutch only were admitted, the reason being that they had no part in the propagation of Christianity.

Such was the process by which Japan became isolated from the rest of the world.  However, the Shōgunate ordered the Dutch residents in Dejima to present a yearly report on overseas affairs and had the translators render them into Japanese.  Thus the Shōgunate kept itself informed of the movements abroad.  At the same time, many Western articles imported through Nagasaki spread throughout the country, and in course of time, not only the Shōgunate officials but intellectuals in general became acquainted with Dutch culture and things of the West in spite of the isolation policy.

In Nagasaki, there were many government appointed interpreters.  Among them, those with scholarly bent would absorb knowledge beyond the language.  Especially in medicine, there appeared some interpreters who learned the technique from the Dutch and went into actual practice of  healing.  It was not to be denied, however, that in any field, what these men learned was generally loose and fragmental.

As time passed, there appeared scholars with true fire for learning things Western not only in Nagasaki but in other parts of the country, particularly in Edo.  Some of these men even made trips to Nagasaki in order to learn the language from interpreters.  Among them, Ryōtaku Maeno (1728-1803) may be regarded as the most serious pioneer.

Ever since Holland was made the only European country permitted to trade with Japan, it became a custom, beginning in 1609, for the Capitan (derived from the Portuguese word, capitāo) of the Dutch House to come to Edo to pay homage to the Shōgun with many presents.  This was made a regular annual event after 1633; later in 1790, it was made a once in every five years affair and continued till it was finally abolished in 1850.  Thus for a period of nearly two hundred years, the Dutchmen's regular visit to Edo continued.

When a Capitan of the Dutch House came to Edo, he was usually accompanied by some followers.  Among them always was a doctor to look after the health of the party.  In Edo, the Dutchmen always put up in the hotel, Nagasakiya, at Honkuchō, and while they were in Edo the Japanese were permitted to approach them quite freely after obtaining a permit through a set procedure.  This was very different from the strict rules of segregation in Nagasaki.  Therefore, the scholars in Edo, particularly physicians, would visit the Dutch party and through the interpreters, made many inquiries.  Among the Dutch party there often were men of high caliber and the Japanese visitors were able to obtain knowledge in widely diversified fields.

Among the Dutchmen who visited Edo in March of 1771, there was a man who possessed a copy of an anatomy book called Ontleedkundige Tafelen which was a translation of a German book Anatomische Tabellen by J.A. Kulumus (1689-1745).  And the man said he was willing to sell this book.  It was a physician named Genpaku Sugita (1733-1817) who purchased this book after much difficulty in obtaining the money for it.

Being much puzzled because the illustrations in the book which showed the internal organs of the human body were very different from his own conception, Sugita was determined to test the verity by actual observation of a dissected body.

On March 4 of the same year, Genpaku Sugita was invited to attend a dissection of an executed criminal to be held in Kotsugahara Execution Grounds in the suburb of Edo.  Calling together his close friends, Ryōtaku Maeno and Jun-an Nakagawa, he went and discovered that the illustrations in Kulumus's book compared exactly with the actual organs.  So impressed were the men that they decided they must translate this book into Japanese.  They joined forces, and after untold difficulties, they succeeded in bringing out the five volumes of A New Book of Anatomy (Kaitai Shinsho).

With this as a turning point, there appeared many scholars who took up the Dutch language and the translation of scientific books, thus opening the way for the direct introduction of Western learning instead of fragmentary information through interpreters.  And this movement became the basis upon which the modern Japan was to be built.

The Dawn of Western Science in Japan (Rangaku Kotohajime, 1815) is a history of the Dutch learning, that is, the introduction of the Western science and culture in Japan written in the style of a reminiscence as Genpaku Sugita saw it and took part in it in the fifty years of his active life.  In this book Genpaku narrates most lucidly what difficulties he had to surmount and what thoughts and attitudes his colleagues held, and then he goes on to record all he knew of the subsequent rise and spreading out of Dutch learning and also describes each of the participating scholars and their works.  Without this Dawn of Western Science in Japan, it may have been impossible at present to know how the Western learning was first introduced to Japan and what steps it took in the first fifty years of its development.

People marvel at the brilliant accomplishment of the Japanese in the hundred years since the Meiji Restoration of 1868.  But they must not leave un-regarded the preceding one hundred years which the Japanese spent in appreciating and absorbing the Western civilization through the Dutch language.  On this point this Dawn of Western Science in Japan is a precious and indispensable book for any person who is interested in the modernization of Japan.

In 1959 when a monument was erected at the temple, Ekōin, near Kotsugahara where Genpaku Sugita saw dissection for the first time, I was asked to write the inscription.  At the same time, I wrote the inscription for another monument erected to mark Ryōtaku Maeno's residence where the scholars gathered to take up the translation the very next day after the dissection.  As these two inscriptions give in epitome the climax of the Dawn of Western Science in Japan, I am presenting them here in translation:

Genpaku's original work is just a long narrative, but Dr. Ogata, when he made a modern Japanese version of it, divided it into numerically ordered sections, each with its short title to facilitate the reader's understanding

This - Dr. Ogata's system of sectioning - has been adopted with his approval into the English translation

COMMEMORATING THE DISSECTION WHICH BROUGHT FORTH DUTCH LEARNING

In 1771 (March 4, the 8th Year of Meiwa), Genpaku Sugita, Ryōtaku Maeno, Jun-an Nakagawa and other scholars came here to watch a dissection.  Other groups of men had seen dissections before, but Genpaku and his men had brought with them copies of the Dutch book of anatomy, Ontleedkundige Tafelen, and they compared its illustrations with the actual internal organs.  They were amazed at the accuracy of the illustrations.

On the way back, these three men decided to spur themselves to the task of translating the book for the benefit of the physicians in Japan.  On the very next day, they commenced the work, and after indescribably efforts, they succeeded in publishing Kaitai Shinsho (A New Book of Anatomy) in five volumes in 1774 (August, the 3rd Year of An-ei).  This was the very first of the serious translations of Western scientific books and it induced the rise of Dutch Learning which led to the budding of modern culture in Japan.

A monument commemorating that dissection was first erected by Shōshin Ikai (Medical Science Promotion Society) at the back of the temple in 1922, but it was destroyed in the war on February 22, 1945.  And so, its bronze plaque with the relief design of Kaitai Shinsho's title page has been brought here for re-erection.

1959 - March 4, the 34th Year of Shōwa

on the occasion of the 15th General

Meeting of Japan Medical Society

Japan Medical History Society

Japan Medical Society

Physicians Society of Japan

The monument erected to commemorate the dissection attended by Genpaku Sugita, Ryōtaku Maeno, Jun-an Nakagawa and other scholars

THE SPRING OF DUTCH LEARNING FLOWED HERE

In 1771 (March 5, the 8th Year of Meiwa), Genpaku Sugita and Jun-an Nakagawa gathered in Ryōtaku Maeno's residence.  The house was very near here in the estate of Lord Okudaira of Nakatsu Clan.  The three men had been impressed the day before by the accuracy of the illustrations in the Dutch anatomy book, Ontleedkundige Tafelen, being verified by the dissection held at Kotsugahara, and became determined on the very day to translate the book.

However, when they looked in the book for that purpose, they discovered that the work was beyond reach even for Ryōtaku who knew the language to some extent.  And so, they began by learning the names of the parts of the body as they were indicated in the illustrations.  After much difficulty, they managed to decipher the language and succeeded in completing the five volumes of Kaitai Shinsho (A New Book of Anatomy) in August of the 3rd Year of An-ei Era (1774).  This was the first of the scholarly translations ever made of a scientific book from the West.  After this success, studies in Dutch culture developed rapidly.

Thus the spring of Dutch Learning first welled up here and continued to supply an infinite life to the stream of modern culture in Japan.

1959 - March 5, the 34th Year of Shōwa

on the occasion of the 15th General

Meeting of Japan Medical Society

Japan Medical History Society

Japan Medical Society

Physicians Society of Japan

The monument erected to commemorate the translation of the Ontleedkundige Tafelen by Ryōtaku Maeno, Genpaku Sugita, Jun-an Nakagawa and other scholars

A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF GENPAKU SUGITA (TOMIO OGATA)

This brief Biography is a revision of the work originally written by Gentaku Ōtsuki, and printed in the Dawn of Western Science in Japan, 2nd edition, which was published in April, 1890 (the 23rd year of Meiji Era).

Doctor Genpaku's formal name was Tasuku; alias, Shihō; and his common name, Genpaku and his pseudonym, Kyūkō.  His father, Hosen, was an official doctor of Feudal Lord Wakasa, and his mother was a daughter of Genkō Yomogida.

Genpaku was born on September 13, 1733, within the Wakasa-Obama estate of Feudal Lord Wakasa, Yarai, Ushigome, Edo.  His mother died at the delivery.  People were too busy trying to save the mother to look after the baby.  Assuming that it was dead, they wrapped it in cloth and laid it on the floor unattended.  Soon, however, they found that it was alive - a boy - to their great delight.  He was nursed and brought up with care.

Translator's note: A boy was more highly valued than a girl in those days

When the boy was about 18 years old, he declared to his father: "So far I have been living with no definite object, but now I wish to find a good teacher so as to learn the true discipline of a doctor."  His father responded joyfully: "I have been waiting for you to make that statement."  At that time, there lived at Nihon-enoki a man by the name of Gentetsu Nishi noted for his superior skill in surgery.  Genpaku studied under this celebrated doctor diligently, making the long trip daily to the teacher's house often in the face of wind and rain.  Also, he studied Chinese classics (Keishi), books on ethics and history, under the tutelage of Saburoemon Miyase, whose pseudonym was Ryūmon, a Confucianist.

On reaching his 25th year in 1757, Genpaku was granted by his liege lord a "dependant ration for 5 persons."  Thereupon, with his father's approval, he began to live independently away from his father's residence.  Also, he presented the pledge to the liege lord that he would not seek his father's help.  Then he petitioned his liege lord for a permit to establish himself as a medical practitioner which was given, and he opened his business at 4-chōme, Nihonbashidōri, adjoining the house of the painter Sekkei Kusumoto.

Later, he moved to Hakoya-chō when he was 27 years, and then to Horidome-chō when he was 30, both moves due to fires.  Hosen, his father, died in 1770 at the age of 79 when Genpaku was 37 years old.  The Doctor then shifted his residence to the premises of Feudal Lord Sakai.  It was about this time, that is, in 1771 (the 8th year of Meiwa Era) that the Doctor set about the project of Dutch learning.  When 44 years old in 1776 (the 5th year of An-ei Era), he moved to Yamabushi-ido, Hamachōgashi, where he rented land from Tōbei Takemoto, a samurai (knight).

Before the Doctor came to this place, he had studied the book Dutch Surgery (Oranda-yōka) that had been handed down in Japan since olden times.  He found, however, that the book contained merely trivial information obtained orally from Dutch interpreters.  Also, he looked extensively into Chinese books on surgery, but found them inexact, and the facts contained in them varied and conflicting.  So, he made up his mind to create a unique, authentic surgery of Japan, and planned to study Chinese publications with the object of making a complete list of solid and important terms related to surgery.

The Doctor spoke of this plan to a person named Kozaemon Aono, a rather odd character of his own clan.  Being impressed by the doctor's seriousness of purpose in the cause of medical science, Aono asked how far he had progressed with the work.  He answered: "No.  I have not even started with the manuscript.  I am only thinking of the plan to myself!"  Aono said encouragingly: "Since you are resolved on such a great task, you ought not to hesitate.  Don't wait till tomorrow!  Start it right now, today!"  Being struck by these words, Doctor launched into the task that evening.  The result was the compilation of a work entitled the General Selections on Surgery (Yōka-taisei).

Some time later, the Doctor came across a Dutch anatomical chart.  The internal organs and muscular tissues represented in it appeared so different from those described by Chinese authorities that he felt suspicious of them.  But comparing them with the real evidence he observed in the dissection of the body of an executed criminal, he was surprised and overcome with admiration, finding that they were in perfect agreement with the actual objects, (March 4, 1771).  Inspired by this experience, he decided to engage himself in the translation of Western books into Japanese, which resulted in his inauguration of the so-called "Dutch learning" in Japan, and his acquisition of a nationwide reputation as a medical scholar and practitioner receiving a constant stream of visitors who begged for his treatment.

The Doctor was granted an audience by Shōgun Ienari in June 1805 (the 2nd year of Bunka Era) when he was 73 years old.  He died on April 17, 1817 (the 14th year of Bunka Era) at the age of 85.

The above account is detailed for the period prior to the inauguration of the Dutch learning in Japan.  For the period after that, the reader may well consult the text of the Dawn of Western Science in Japan.

Translator's note: It was and still is to some extent a custom in Japan to count the age of a person differently from the way of the West.  A person is regarded as one year old at birth, and is given another year at every New Year, the fraction of a year being counted as one full year.  Thus it is necessary to subtract one or two years from every Japanese age mentioned in this historic literature in order to obtain the age as calculated by the Western method, according as the age of a person is counted after or before his or her birthday.  Also, the annual round of months is arranged by the lunar calendar, that is, they are about one month behind in time as by the Western calendar

THREE PERSONS WHO BROUGHT THE DAWN OF WESTERN SCIENCE IN JAPAN TO LIGHT AGAIN (RYŌZŌ MATSUMOTO)

Here is explained what a significant role the three great Japanese, - Kōhei Kanda, Yukichi Fukuzawa and Tomio Ogata, - played in familiarizing the masses of Japan with this historic document, influencing them to a grateful acknowledgement of their predecessors' efforts.

To convey how the first two of the persons mentioned above, - Kōhei Kanda and Yukichi Fukuzawa, - were instrumental in bringing the Dawn of Western Science in Japan to the attention of the public at large, here is reproduced a part of the preface to the Reprint of the Dawn of Western Science in Japan written in April, 1890, by Yukichi Fukuzawa, founder of the Keiōgijuku Educational Institution and the greatest liberalist Japan has ever had.

PREFACE TO THE REPRINT OF THE DAWN OF WESTERN SCIENCE IN JAPAN (YUKICHI FUKUZAWA)

"Needless to say, a copy of the original Dawn of Western Science in Japan was kept by the Sugitas as a treasured article for the family, but it was destroyed in the great earthquake and a fire which occurred in 1855 (the 2nd year of Ansei Era).  It was a great regret that no medical student or pupil of the Sugita School took the trouble to reproduce this historic work.

It happened, however, that Mr. Kōbei Kanda, while taking a walk along a street of Hongō, Edo, in the last year of the Shōgunate, noticed an old handwritten book displayed in a roadside stall in a backstreet of the Seidō (Shrine of Confucius).  It was unmistakably the Dawn of Western Science in Japan personally copied by the Doctor and presented to his pupil, Doctor Bansui Ōtsuki.  Mr. Kanda leaped with joy and bought it right away.

He reported the matter to his friends and Dutch study companions.  They copied it frantically feeling as though they had met a friend whom they had long given up for lost.  We, myself included, should really be thankful to Mr. Kanda for this unforgettable event.

Every word in the book testifies to the hard labor of our predecessors in their attempt to inaugurate Western science in Japan.  Especially coming to the paragraph: 'We faced the Tāheru Anatomia.  But it was as though we were on a boat with no oar or rudder adrift on the great ocean - a vast expanse and nothing to indicate our course.  We just gazed at each other in blank dismay,' we could vividly imagine their struggle, were impressed by their courage and were moved to tears by their dedicated determination.

I visited Mr. Renkei Sugita at Ogawa-machi, Tōkyō, one day in 1868 and urged him to reprint the historic essay, lest it should be missed again in an age of political turbulence, I asked him to allow me offer the necessary fund for it."

Dr. Ogata writes: "Really, no word is sufficient to express the gratitude to Mr. Fukuzawa for his far-seeing effort to acquaint the general public with this precious document."

Dr. Masafumi Tomita, Director of the Keio Tsu-shin (Keio Correspondence School Press) and the greatest authority on Yukichi Fukuzawa, says: "I am really happy to know that here again Fukuzawa's sincere effort to enlighten the Japanese in Western civilization is made known to the world."

Now, we turn to Doctor Tomio Ogata, 1901-  .  He is a professor emeritus at the University of Tōkyō.  He is a specialist in serology and immunology, well posted in English, German, French, Dutch and Chinese.  As he is a medical doctor, he became interested to know how Western medicine developed in Japan.  While looking into this matter, he came across the Dawn of Western Science in Japan by change and was completely captivated by this remarkable book.

He made a careful study of it and rendered it into modern Japanese in 1941; the newly edited version was provided with an appendix of minutely researched explanatory notes, so as to acquaint the common Japanese with this cultural classic.  It became very popular as it was read not only by the general public, but hy the students from high school level up, being used as a text-book for humanities courses.

Incidentally, let me refer to a great personage, Dr. Kōan Ogata (1810-1863), the great-grandfather of Dr. Ogata.  He founded the Ogata School for Dutch Learning in Ōsaka, 1838 and became a motive power in the production of some able and courageous Japanese who pioneered the way for Japan to be revolutionized into a progressive modern state.