Kamada Ryuo

A scholar of Shingon in the late Edo period. His given name was Ho, his pen name was Tounan, and he was commonly known as Genshu, and his pen name was Ryuho. He was born on the first day of the first month of the year 1768 as the third son of Kubo Mataemon of Yuasa, Kishu, and was adopted by his maternal uncle Kamata Isshō (1721-1804) at a young age. His adoptive father Isshō was a doctor in Kyoto, and studied under Saito Zenmon (1700-1761), a disciple of Ishida Baigan, and was also active as a scholar of Shingon. Ryuho studied medicine and Shingon under his father, and further studied Western natural sciences such as astronomy and Dutch studies, and pursued his own research into nature and human psychology from a rational and empirical standpoint, achieving the perfection of science. He died on March 11, 1821. His main work, "The Secrets of Science" (1816), examines the origins and essence of the heavens, earth, and nature, and then through an analysis of human consciousness and sensory activity, investigates the essence of the mind, which has been a traditional theme of Shingaku. In "The Inner Plans of Shingaku" (1822), he investigates the principles of change in all things and adds empirical and rational interpretations to supernatural phenomena such as the existence of demons and gods, and for his ideas he has been praised as Japan's first empirical psychologist and an original materialist. His other works include "Shu Gakuben", "The Five Rules of Shingaku" (1813), "The Flowers and Fruits of the Mind", "Echoes of the Way" (1819), and "Hosunzan".

[Jun Imai, May 19, 2016]

"Japanese Thought Series 42: Sekimon Shingaku" edited by Shibata Makoto (1971, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "A Study of Kamata Ho as Japan's First Empirical Psychologist" by Watanabe Toru (1940, Chukokan)" ▽ "Japanese Materialists" by Saegusa Hirone (1956, Eihosha)" ▽ "About the Noh Play Hosunzan" (included in "Collection of Psychological Papers by Watanabe Toru, 1959, Shinseisha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸後期の心学者。諱(いみな)は鵬(ほう)、字(あざな)は図南、通称玄珠(げんしゅ)、柳泓はその号。宝暦(ほうれき)4年正月元日、紀州湯浅の久保又右衛門の三男に生まれ、幼時母方の伯父鎌田一窓（1721―1804）の養子となる。養父一窓は京都の医師で、石田梅岩(ばいがん)門下の斎藤全門（1700―1761）に学び、心学者としても活躍した。柳泓は父のもとで医学、心学を修め、さらに天文学、蘭学(らんがく)などの西洋自然科学を学び、合理的、経験主義的立場から自然と人間心理に関する独自の研究を進め理学を大成した。文政(ぶんせい)4年3月11日没。主著『理学秘訣(りがくひけつ)』（1816）は、天地自然の生成と本質について考察し、ついで人間の意識・感覚作用の分析を通じ、心学の伝統的課題とした心の本質を究明したものである。また『心学奥(おく)の桟(かけはし)』（1822）は、万物の変化の理を究明し、鬼神の有無など超自然的現象について経験的、合理的解釈を加えたもので、このような彼の思想に対して、日本最初の経験的心理学者また独創的唯物論者という評価も与えられている。著書はこのほかに『朱学弁』『心学五則』（1813）『心の花実』『道の谺(こだま)』（1819）『方寸山』などがある。

［今井　淳　2016年5月19日］

『柴田実編『日本思想大系42　石門心学』（1971・岩波書店）』▽『渡辺徹著『本邦最初の経験的心理学者としての鎌田鵬の研究』（1940・中興館）』▽『三枝博音著『日本の唯物論者』（1956・英宝社）』▽『「謡曲方寸山のことども」（『渡辺徹心理学論文集』所収・1959・新生社）』

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