Niwa Shohaku (丹羽正伯)
Shohaku NIWA (1691 - May 12, 1756) was a notable scholar of herbalism in mid Edo period.
Summary
He was born in Matsuzaka, Ise province (present Matsusaka City, Mie Prefecture) and a doctor. He learnt herbalism from Jakusui INOU in Kyoto, and later he was appointed to Saiyakushi (a person who gathers medicinal herbs in the fields and mountain) in Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun). He was ordered to undertake Saiyaku (to gather medicinal herbs in the fields and mountain) research in various regions with Genjo NORO and Masakatsu UEMURA, as well as to manage Shimousa Yakuen (medicinal-herb garden) and cultivate herbs there. The name of the place (present Yakuendai, Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture) in which Shimousa Takidaino Yakuen (medicinal-herb garden) managed by Shohaku was located is derived from the garden. In the region, the place 'Yakuendai' is also called by another name 'Shohaku Shinden' in honor of Shohaku's great achievement, and the name appears in some old maps.
Notable books written by Shohaku include 'Shobutsuruisan', a book of herbalism he took over from Jakusui, and 'Shokoku sanbutsucho', a book describing results of his exhaustive researches on various plants, animals and minerals from all over Japan.
Shohaku died in 1756 in Edo. Later, people in Yakuendai-mura village founded a monument for honoring his achievements, and inscribed on the front of the monument is "Taitsu-in Nichiryo" (Shohaku's posthumous Buddhist name).