Genboku Ito

Japanese: 伊東玄朴 - いとう・げんぼく

Year of death: 20th February 1871 (4th January 1871)
Year of birth: 12/28/1801 (2/11/1801)
A doctor of Western medicine in the late Edo period. Born in Nibiyama Village, Kanzaki County, Hizen Province (Saga Prefecture). The eldest son of Shikkou Jusuke. His childhood name was Kansuke, given name Fuchi, pen name Hakuju, and pen names Chusai, Choo, and Choshun'an. He was adopted by Saga samurai Ito Yusho. In Bunka 12 (1815) he became a pupil of Chinese medicine doctor Furukawa Saan, and in Bunsei 1 (1818) he opened a medical practice. In Bunsei 8 he became a pupil of Dutch medicine doctor Shimamoto Ryusho, and in Bunsei 9 he learned Dutch from Nagasaki interpreter Inomata Denjuemon, and also studied Dutch medicine under Siebold. In Edo in 1830 he moved to Edo, and in 1831 he opened a medical practice in Honjo Banba-cho. In Tenpo 2 (1831) he was summoned as a samurai of the Nabeshima family, lords of Saga, and in 1834 he was selected as court physician. In 1849, he was one of the first to develop a method of inoculating patients with cowpox, using cowpox scabs that had been brought to Nagasaki. When a vaccination center was established at Otamagaike Pond in Kanda in 1858, he was a central figure among 83 doctors of Western medicine living in Edo and made great efforts to open the center. He understood that cowpox inoculation was the most effective method of preventing smallpox, and he advocated for its effectiveness to the shogunate in order to implement it on the citizens of Edo. He was granted land bestowed by Kawaji Seimo, the magistrate of finance at the time, and Kawaji also actively participated in this effort. In the same year, when the shogun Tokugawa Iesada fell seriously ill, he became the first doctor of Western medicine to serve as the shogun's personal physician, along with Totsuka Seikai and others, and participated in the treatment. In 1861, he was appointed a Hoin and given the title of Choshunin. As a Dutch scholar, he trained many children, and it is said that several hundred people entered the Shosendo Dutch Studies School, which he opened in 1833 (Tenpo 4), including talented individuals from each domain. His students included not only physicians but also scholars and politicians. The Otamagaike Vaccination Center came under the direct control of the shogunate in 1860 (Man'en 1), and the following year it was renamed the Western Medicine Institute (which later evolved into the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo) and became a place to teach Dutch medicine, and in 1862 Genpaku was appointed its director. In 1863 he was relieved of his position as court physician and placed in the Ministry of Construction, and in 1868 he retired, handing the family headship to his adopted son, Hosei (Genpaku). He translated Bishop's book and published "Iryo Seishi" (1835). <References> Ito Sakae, "The Life of Ito Genpaku"

(Yasutaka Fukase)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：明治4.1.2(1871.2.20)
生年：寛政12.12.28(1801.2.11)
幕末の蘭方医。肥前国(佐賀県)神崎郡仁比山村生まれ。執行重助の長男。幼名は勘助,名は淵,字は伯寿,号は冲斎,長翁,長春庵。佐賀藩士伊東祐章の養子となる。文化12(1815)年漢方医古川佐庵の門に入り,文政1(1818)年医を開業する。5年蘭方医島本竜嘯に入門し,次いで6年長崎の大通詞猪股伝次右衛門にオランダ語を学び,シーボルトにも師事して蘭医学を学んだ。9年江戸に出て,11年本所番場町に医業を開いた。天保2(1831)年佐賀藩主鍋島家の一代士として召しかかえられ,14年には侍医に抜擢された。嘉永2(1849)年長崎にもたらされた牛痘痂を用いて,いち早く牛痘接種法を手がけた。安政5(1858)年神田お玉ケ池に種痘所を設立するに当たっては,江戸在住83名の蘭方医の中心的存在として開設に尽力した。牛痘接種法が天然痘の予防にもっとも有効であることを理解して,これを江戸の市民に実施するために幕閣に対してその効果を説き,時の勘定奉行川路聖謨の拝領地を借り受け,川路も積極的にこの挙に参加した。また同じ年将軍徳川家定の重病に際し,戸塚静海らと共に蘭方医としてはじめて,将軍の侍医となって治療に参加した。文久1(1861)年法印に叙せられ,長春院の号を賜った。蘭学者としても多くの子弟を養い,天保4(1833)年に開設した蘭学塾象先堂の門に入るもの数百といわれ,各藩の秀才を網羅していた。門下からは医家のみならず,学者,政治家が輩出。お玉ケ池種痘所は万延1(1860)年幕府直轄となり,翌年西洋医学所(その後変遷を経て東大医学部)と改称されて蘭医学を教授する所となり,文久2年玄朴はその取締に就任した。文久3年奥医師を免ぜられて小普請入となり,明治1(1868)年隠居して家督を養子の方成(玄伯)にゆずった。ビショップの著書を翻訳して『医療正始』(1835)を刊行した。<参考文献>伊東栄『伊東玄朴伝』

(深瀬泰旦)

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