Katsuragawa Hoshu

Katsuragawa Hoshu came from a medical dynasty and was a hereditary doctor at the shogun's court. Actually, he was Katsuragawa IV since he was the fourth of this kind to hold a similar position. In 1777, he was appointed “okuishi” by the Shogun’s personal physician, and in 1783 he received the honorary title “Hogen”, which was then assigned to doctors, artists and poets of the rank genre. In 1794 he was appointed professor of the medical school founded by the government in 1765. In 1783, he fell into disgrace at the head of government, Tanuma Okitsugu, and was exiled to Mikuradzimu Island. However, three years later, the opal was removed, he was reinstated as a court doctor and returned to the court.

Katsuragawa knew the Dutch language and participated in negotiations with foreigners. He was interested in Western sciences, for example, he participated in the translation of Kaitai Shinsho (The New Book of Anatomy), published in 1774 . It was a translation of the Dutch translation of the famous work of the German scientist Kulmus "Anatomische Tabellen". A little later, he studied with the Swedish scientist Karl-Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), a student of Linnaeus . Tunebreg, working as a doctor on a ship of the Dutch East India Company , arrived in Nagasaki in 1775 and Edo in 1776 . At the end of 1776, Tuneberg returned to Europe with a herbarium of more than 800 plant species collected in Japan. Based on this herbarium, in 1784 he published the essay Flora of Japan. It was from this scientist that Katsuragawa and another Japanese medical scientist, Nakagawa Junun, studied during his stay in the country. Katsuragawa even received a certificate of success in treatment from Tuneberg. European influences are clearly visible in Hoshu's works on surgery and pharmacology. However, the scientist was interested not only in professional sciences. He wrote and published works on the geography of the world “Chikyu zenzu” (“Map of the globe”) and “Bangkok zusetsu” (“Map of the world states with explanations”). Hoshu also knew about Katsuragawa from Tuneberg in Russia, so Kirill Laksman, through his son, the head of the embassy in Japan, sent letters, thermometers and collections of minerals to him and Nakagawa Junun.

• Imaizumi Genkichi (1965). Rangaku no ie Katsuragawa no hitobito. Tokyo: Shinozaki Shorin.
• 戸 沢 行 夫 『オ ラ ン ダ 家 御 典 医 桂 川 家 の 世界 江 戸 芸 苑 家 の 気 運』 築 地 書館 、 1994 年 、 ISBN 978-4-8067-6706-0
• 戸 沢 行 夫 『江 戸 が の ぞ い た ＜ 西洋 ＞』 教育 出 出 〈〈江 戸 東京 ラ イ ブ ラ リ ー〉 、 1999 年 、 ISBN 978-4-316-35760-7