Sugita, Genpaku, 1733-1817

Sugita Genpaku (杉田 玄白; 20 October 1733 – 1 June 1817) was a Japanese physician and scholar known for his translation of Kaitai Shinsho (New Book of Anatomy) and a founder of Rangaku (Western learning) and Ranpō (Dutch style medicine) in Japan. He was one of the first Japanese scholars in Edo (modern day Tokyo) to study the Dutch language and is credited with being one of the first Japanese physicians to study Western medical teachings in Japan. In 1771 Genpaku and Maeno Ryōtaku, a Japanese scholar studying the Dutch language, translated a Dutch book of anatomy Ontleedkundige Tafelen, originally published in German by physician and professor Johann Adam Kulmus in 1734. Genpaku was inspired to translate the Dutch text after witnessing the dissection of a female criminal while viewing Ontleedkundige Tafelen as an anatomical reference throughout the dissection. He was inspired by the German drawings of human organs, which accurately depicted the organs and vasculature he saw during the dissection. The German drawings were more anatomically detailed and accurate than Chinese texts and after the dissection he and his colleagues made it their scholarly mission to produce a Japanese translation of the Ontleedkundige Tafelen. It took three full years and eleven manuscripts to produce the first translation of the text entitled Kaitai Shinsho in 1774.