Sozaemon Oshima

...A mining metallurgist of the late Edo and Meiji periods, and a pioneer of modern iron-making technology. His real name was Sozaemon, and his pen name was Shutei. He was born in Morioka, his father a physician to the Nanbu clan. In 1842 (Tenpo 13), he went to Edo, where he studied under Mitsukuri Genpo and Tsuboi Nobumichi. In 1846 (Koka 3), at the age of 21, he was ordered by the clan to study Dutch medicine in Nagasaki. However, rather than studying medicine, he became engrossed in reading Dutch books, and gained knowledge of Western military strategy, gunnery, mining, smelting, and other subjects. During this time, together with fellow student Tezuka Kenzo (later known as Ritsuzo), he translated "Western Iron Casting," a book about the cannon casting method at the Liège National Cannon Foundry in the Netherlands, and acquired knowledge of cannon casting and mining metallurgy technology. ...

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Oshima Sozaemon" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…幕末･明治の採鉱冶金学者，近代製鉄技術の先駆者。本名総左衛門，号は周禎。南部藩侍医を父として盛岡で生まれる。1842年(天保13)江戸に出て，箕作阮甫，坪井信道のもとで学ぶ。46年(弘化3)21歳のとき，藩命により長崎でオランダ医学を学ぶように指示され留学をする。しかし，医学を修めることより蘭書を読むことに熱中し，西洋の兵法，砲術，採鉱，製錬術などの知識を得る。その間に同学の士手塚謙蔵(のち律蔵を名のる)とともに，オランダのリエージュ国立鋳砲所の大砲鋳造法を著した《西洋鉄熕（てつこう）鋳造篇》を訳出し，大砲鋳造，鉱山冶金技術に関する知識を身につけた。…

※「大島総左衛門」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