Publication of Kaitai Shinsho, launching Rangaku in Japan
- Date
- 1774
- Category
- Science, technology & invention
- Region
- Japan
- Era
- Early Modern
- Significance
In 1774, a group of Japanese physicians led by Sugita Genpaku published Kaitai Shinsho ("New Book of Anatomy") in Edo, the first complete Japanese translation of a Western scientific text.
The work rendered into Japanese the Dutch anatomical atlas Ontleedkundige Tafelen, itself derived from Johann Adam Kulmus's German Anatomische Tabellen (Latin Tabulae Anatomicae, Gdansk, c. 1722). Sugita and his collaborators, including Maeno Ryotaku, Nakagawa Jun'an, and Katsuragawa Hoshu, had been struck during a 1771 dissection by the accuracy of the Dutch illustrations compared with received Chinese medical teaching, and spent roughly three years and eleven drafts completing the translation with only a meager Dutch vocabulary. To convey unfamiliar concepts they coined new Japanese terms such as shinkei (nerve) and domyaku (artery) that remain in use today. The book demonstrated that European learning could be accessed despite the Tokugawa policy of national seclusion (sakoku) and became the foundational achievement of Rangaku, the systematic study of Western knowledge through the Dutch language at Dejima, profoundly shaping Japanese medicine, science, and the eventual modernisation of the country.
One piece of history in your inbox, weekly
New empires, events and features as they land — one good email a week. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Empires active in 1774
- Qing Dynasty1636 CE – 1912 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Russian Empire1721 CE – 1917 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
- Mughal Empire1526 CE – 1857 CE
Related science, technology & invention events
- Watt patents the rotative steam engine1781
- Edward Jenner Develops Smallpox Vaccination14 May 1796
- Newton's Principia and universal gravitation1687
- Arkwright's Cromford Mill and the birth of the factory system1771 (water frame patented 1769)
- Sawai Jai Singh II builds the Jantar Mantar observatoriesc. 1724
- Variolation against smallpox reaches Europe1721
Further reading
The wider story
A Little History of Science
Warm, jargon-free tour of discovery from Babylonian stargazers to the genome.
Get it on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.