Udagawa Kaien

...Dutch scholar and doctor of Dutch medicine in the late Edo period. Born in Edo as the eldest son of a doctor of the Tsuyama domain, Genzui was adopted by his uncle Genshu when he inherited the family business. His name was Shin, his pen name was Meikyo, and he was known as Kaien and Tokai. He was a fair-skinned, gentle man who resembled an actor, so people nicknamed him Lady Tokai. As the first head of the Udagawa family of Dutch scholars, he was active in the same era as Maeno Ryotaku and Sugita Genpaku, and translated J. de Gorter's book on internal medicine and published Seisetsu Naika Senyo. At the same time, he prepared Ensei Meibutsu Ko, a book on Western medicine necessary for Western internal medicine. He also had the keen insight that Western medicine was based on chemical technology, and translated Brancaert's appendix Seirenjutsu, introducing pharmaceutical chemistry to Japan for the first time. ...

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Udagawa Kaien" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…江戸後期の蘭学者，蘭方医。津山藩医の長子として江戸に生まれ，父の没時幼少であった玄随は，叔父玄叔が家督をついでその養嗣子の形をとった。名は晋，字は明卿，槐園･東海と号した。役者に似た色白のやさ男であったので，世人は東海夫人とあだ名した。宇田川家蘭学初代として，前野良沢，杉田玄白らと同時代にあって活躍し，ゴルテルJ.de Gorterの内科書を翻訳して《西説内科撰要》を刊行，それと並行して西洋内科に必要な西洋薬物書《遠西名物考》を準備し，さらに西洋薬物が化学技術に基礎をもつことをつとに洞察してブランカールトの内科書付録《製錬術》を翻訳して，日本へ初めて製薬化学を導入した。…

※「宇田川槐園」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報