Yasuda Miyazaki

Japanese: 宮崎安貞 - みやざき・やすさだ

Year of death: July 23, 10th year of Genroku (September 8, 1697)
Year of birth: Genna 9 (1623)
An agricultural scholar from the early Edo period. Commonly known as Buntayu. Along with Okura Nagatsune and Sato Nobuhiro, he is said to be one of the "three greatest agricultural scholars in Japan before the Meiji period." He only wrote one book, "Complete Book of Agriculture," but its contents are considered to be the best agricultural book before the Meiji period. There are many unknowns about his life. Born to a samurai of the Hiroshima (Aki) domain, he served the Fukuoka domain at the age of 25, but became a ronin a few years later. After traveling around western Japan, he returned to Fukuoka and returned to farming in Onnahara (Nishi-ku, Fukuoka City) on the outskirts. With the encouragement of Kaibara Ekiken, who he became acquainted with, he decided to write an agricultural book. The agricultural books that had already been written at the time ("Seiryo-ki," "Aizu Nosho," and "Hyakusho-denki") were not known outside of their respective local areas, and neither Ekiken nor Yasusada knew about them. In other words, Yasusada made it his life's goal to write what he believed to be the first agricultural book in Japan. While referring to China's "Complete Book of Agricultural Policy" and other sources, Yasusada personally inspected the agriculture of neighboring countries, interviewed experienced farmers, and completed "Complete Book of Agriculture" by verifying his own experiences. The book aimed to contain universal content that would be useful not only to a specific region, but to the whole of Japan, transcending differences in climate and climate, and was based on research methods that were essentially the same as those used in modern Western science. Specifically, it focuses on explanations of approximately 150 useful plants. With the support of Masuken, it was printed and published in 1697 (Genroku 10) as the first agricultural book in Japan, and it spread throughout the country, exerting a great influence on all agricultural books that followed. However, Yasusada passed away at roughly the same time as the book was published, and was unable to see the reaction it caused. <References> "Dai Nippon Nokou-den" edited by the Agriculture Bureau, Furushima Toshio "History of Japanese Agricultural Science" vol. 1 ("Collected Works of Furushima Toshio" vol. 5), Tsuneharu Tsuneharu "Japanese Agricultural Books"

(Tsukuba Tsuneharu)

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

Japanese:

没年：元禄10.7.23(1697.9.8)
生年：元和9(1623)
江戸前期の農学者。通称は文太夫。大蔵永常,佐藤信淵と共に明治以前における「日本の三大農学者」といわれる。著書は『農業全書』の1冊だけだが,その内容は明治以前の最高の農書と評価される。生涯については不明の部分が少なくない。広島(安芸)藩士の子に生まれ,25歳のとき福岡藩に仕えたが,数年後に浪人となった。西日本の各地を旅したのち福岡に戻って郊外の女原(福岡市西区)で帰農生活に入り,知遇を得た貝原益軒のすすめもあり,農書の執筆を決意した。当時すでに書かれていた農書類(『清良記』『会津農書』『百姓伝記』)はそれぞれの地元以外には全く伝わらず,益軒も安貞もそれらを知らなかった。つまり安貞は日本で最初と信じる農書の著述を生涯の目標にした。中国の『農政全書』などを参考にしつつ,みずから近隣諸国の農業を視察して経験豊かな農民たちから取材し,体験による検証を加えて『農業全書』を完成した。同書は特定の地方だけでなく,風土の違いを超えて日本全国すべてに役立つ普遍的な内容をめざし,西洋の近代科学と基本的に変わらない研究手法をふまえていた。具体的には約150種の有用植物に関する解説を中心にしている。益軒の後援もあって元禄10(1697)年に日本の農書として初めて印刷出版され,全国に広まり,その後の農書すべてに多大な影響をおよぼした。しかし安貞は出版とほぼ同時期に世を去って,その反響を知ることはできなかった。<参考文献>農務局編『大日本農功伝』,古島敏雄『日本農学史』1巻(『古島敏雄著作集』5巻),筑波常治『日本の農書』

(筑波常治)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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