Shunsai Otsuki

A doctor of Western medicine in the late Edo period. Born in Hoshiba, Akai Village, Rikuzen Province (Higashimatsushima City, Miyagi Prefecture). His given name was Tadashi, his pen name was Koen, his pen name was Nakabin, and Shunsai was his nickname. In 1821 (Bunsei 4), he went to Edo and became a student of Takahashi Shosai, a doctor of the Kawagoe Domain, and later became a pupil of Tezuka Ryosen (1801-1877), a doctor of the Naganuma Domain, a branch of the Mito Domain. He learned Dutch studies from Adachi Choshun through an introduction from his senior colleague Minato Choan (?-1838). In 1837 (Tenpo 8), he travelled to Nagasaki to study, where he studied under Takashima Shuhan (1798-1866) and others, and became acquainted with Ogata Koan and others. He returned to Edo in 1840 and opened a clinic, marrying Ryosen's daughter Yaso. The following year, in 1841, he obtained smallpox vaccine from Akiho and successfully inoculated children in Kuramae, Asakusa (said to be the first vaccination in Edo). In the winter of 1849 (Kaei 2), he became convinced of cowpox vaccination, and together with Kuwata Rissai and Ito Genboku, administered it to many children. In 1856 (Ansei 3), he was selected as the samurai physician for the Sendai domain. In 1857, when a Dutch doctor living in Edo raised funds to establish a vaccination center at Kanda Otama-ga-ike, he was in charge of the design, and in 1860 (Man'en 1), it came under the direct control of the shogunate, was renamed the Vaccination Center, and Shunsai became its director. The following year, in 1861, the name was changed to the Institute of Western Medicine, and he served as its first director. During his term, he performed dissections at Ekoin Temple, and received training from Siebold when he returned to Japan. During the cholera epidemic in 1858 (Ansei 5), he promoted medical activities by combining his own ideas with his knowledge of the West. He fell ill with a hard tumor in the stomach (stomach cancer?) in January 1861, and passed away on April 9 the following year, Bunkyu 2. His posthumous name was Koen-in-den Shoen Shunsai Koji, and his grave is at Sozenji Temple in Sendagi, Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo (later moved to Sugamo, Toshima Ward). A monument commemorating him can be found in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture. Among the works edited and translated by Shunsai are "Clinical Trials of the Wounded Crab: The Experiences of Mr. Ninaberu" (translated while studying in Nagasaki, unpublished) and "Trivia about Gunshot Wounds" (1854).

[Tetsuo Suenaka]

"Otsuki Shunsai" (1964), written and published by Aoki Daisuke

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

幕末期の蘭方医(らんぽうい)。陸前国赤井村星場（宮城県東松島(ひがしまつしま)市）生まれ。名は肇(ただし)、号は弘淵、字(あざな)は仲敏、俊斎は通称。1821年（文政4）江戸に出て川越藩医高橋尚斎の学僕となり、のち水戸藩の支封長沼藩の医師手塚良仙（1801―1877）に入門、先輩湊長安(みなとちょうあん)（？―1838）の紹介で足立長雋(ちょうしゅん)から蘭学を修得。1837年（天保8）長崎に遊学、高島秋帆(しゅうはん)（1798―1866）らに学び、緒方洪庵(おがたこうあん)らを知った。1840年江戸に帰り開業、良仙の娘八十(やそ)と結婚、翌1841年秋帆から痘苗(とうびょう)を得て浅草蔵前(くらまえ)の小児に接種して成功した（江戸種痘の最初という）。1849年（嘉永2）冬には牛痘接種を確信、桑田立斎(りゅうさい)・伊東玄朴(げんぼく)らとともに多数の小児に実施した。1856年（安政3）仙台藩侍医に抜擢(ばってき)された。1857年江戸在住の蘭方医が醵金(きょきん)をして神田お玉が池に種痘館を設立した際は設計を担当、1860年（万延1）には幕府直轄となり種痘所と改称、俊斎は頭取となる。翌1861年西洋医学所と改称、その初代頭取も務め、在任中、回向院(えこういん)で解剖を実施し、シーボルトが再来日のおりは伝習を受けた。1858年（安政5）コレラの流行時、西洋知識に自己のくふうを加えた医療活動を進めた。1861年1月から胃硬結腫（胃癌(がん)？）を病み、翌文久2年4月9日没。法名は弘淵院殿肇焉俊斎居士、墓所は東京都文京区千駄木(せんだぎ)の総禅寺（のち豊島(としま)区巣鴨(すがも)に移転）。顕彰碑が宮城県石巻(いしのまき)市にある。俊斎の編訳書には『沃実烏謨(よじうむ)治験　尼那別爾(になべる)氏経験』（長崎遊学中の訳、未刊）、『銃創瑣言(じゅうそうさげん)』（1854）がある。

［末中哲夫］

『青木大輔著・刊『大槻俊斎』（1964）』

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