Masao Abe - Abe Shooh

A botanist of the mid-Edo period. His name was Tomonoshin, and he was from Morioka. He was shipwrecked on his way to Osaka and washed up in Fujian Province, China, where he stayed in Hangzhou for 18 years, studying medicine and herbal medicine before returning to Japan. In 1722 (7th year of the Kyoho era), he responded to a recruitment call from the shogunate and became a medicinal herb collector. Together with his disciple Uemura Saheiji Masakatsu (1695-1777), he thoroughly surveyed the Kanto-Koshinetsu, Oshu, and Ezo regions for medicinal herbs, and conducted field research on many useful plants and minerals. He was involved in the cultivation of various medicinal herbs at the shogunate's Komaba Botanical Garden, and in particular succeeded in domestically producing ginseng, contributing to the reduction of drug prices. He criticized the botany school, which focused on classical research, and established a school of botany that focused on "medicinal herbalism." He wrote the "Saiyaku Shiki" and other books. His disciples, Ransui Tamura and Genri Endo (date of birth and death unknown), developed the work of their master. The talented Gennai Hiraga was a pupil of Ransui Tamura.

[Nemoto Soyoko]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸中期の本草学者。名は友之進。盛岡の人。大坂に行く途中難破して中国福建省に漂着、杭州(こうしゅう)に18年在留して医学と本草を学び帰国。1722年（享保7）幕府の募集に応じ採薬使となる。門人植村佐平次政勝(まさかつ)（1695―1777）とともに関東甲信越、奥羽、蝦夷(えぞ)各地をくまなく採薬調査し、多くの有用植物、鉱物の実地研究を行った。幕府の駒場(こまば)薬園で各種薬草栽培に従事、とくにチョウセンニンジンの国産化に成功し薬価の軽減に貢献する。古典考究を主とする本草学派を批判し、「採薬」を眼目とする本草学の一派を確立した。『採薬使記』ほかの著書がある。高弟の田村藍水(らんすい)、遠藤元理（生没年不詳）が師の遺業を発展させた。異才平賀源内は田村藍水の弟子である。

［根本曽代子］

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