Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 16
August 22, 2006 (Tue) - October 15, 2006 (Sun)
This exhibition features collections of animals, plants, fish, and fungi that were drawn by Japanese scholars during their development of Natural History.
The study of Natural History in Japan was initially based on comparing the names of plants, animals, and other items used in traditional Chinese medicine. Its approach gradually shifted towards science after the 18th century and especially during the Kyoho Era (1716-35), when the shogunate performed a survey of natural products throughout Japan.
Prominent scholars during this time were Tamura Ransui and Ono Ranzan, who were highly-regarded botanists, and Hiraga Gennai, a student of Ransui, practitioner of Dutch studies, painter, ceramicist, author, and inventor of the compass needle, the electric generator, and other scientific devices.
Influenced by the European study of the physical sciences, scholars like Iinuma Yokusai, a physician and botanist; Iwasaki Kanen, a botanist; Udagawa Yoan, a natural scientist and linguist; and Ito Keisuke, a Confucian scholar, botanist, and physician, developed excellent research from the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate until the Meiji Period.
Major works in this exhibition