Udagawa Yoan (宇田川榕菴)
Yoan UDAGAWA (March 9, 1798 - June 22, 1846) was a Japanese Rangakusha (a person who studied Western sciences by means of the Dutch language) during the late Edo Period. His name was Yo and also named him 緑舫. His name is also written as "宇田川榕庵", Yoan UDAGAWA, (different kanji writing, same reading).
Summary
He was born the first son of Yoju EZAWA who was a doctor of Ogaki Domain and was adopted by Genshin UDAGAWA who was a doctor of Tsuyama Domain in 1811. After he became a doctor of Tsuyama Domain in 1817, he became a translator for Bansho-wage Goyo (Government Office for Translation of Barbarian Books) in Shogunate Tenmonkata (officer in charge of astronomy) in 1826, and moved to Edo to make "Kosei Shinpen" which was a translation book of Chomel's Encyclopedia.
Genshin UDAGAWA who was Yoan's adopted father, Genzui UDAGAWA who was Genshin's adopted father, and Kosai UDAGAWA who was Yoan's adopted son are known as a Rangakusha and a scholar of Western Studies.
He had a close friendship with Philipp Franz von Siebold.
He published pharmaceutical books such as "Ensei Iho Meibutsuko" (Introduction to Western Medicines) in collaboration with his adopted father from 1822 to 1825, "Shintei Zoho Oranda Yakukyo" (Introduction to Pharmaceutical Botany) from 1828 to 1830, and "Ensei Iho Meibutsuko Hoi" (Introduction to Western Medicines, Expanded Edition) around 1834.
He published "Botanikakyo" (Introduction to Botany, Sutra-style) in 1822 and "Rigaku Nyumon Sokugaku Keigen" (Introduction to Science and Botany) in 1835, and introduced Japan to Western botanical studies for the first time. "菩多尼訶" (botanica) is a transcription of Latin "Botanica" meaning botany and he wrote the book in the Sutra-style following the Buddhist scriptures.
In addition, he published "Seimi Kaiso" (Elements of Experimental Chemistry) which introduced modern chemistry for the first time in Japan from 1837 to 1847 after he had already died. "Seimi" is a transliteration from Dutch "Chemie" which means chemistry.
"Elements of Experimental Chemistry" was published in 1799 by William Henry who was the British and chemist, "Chemie für Dilettanten" was a German translation and augmented version by Johann Bartholomäus Trommsdorff, and "Leidraad der Chemie voor Beginnennde Liefhebbers, 1803" was a Dutch translation and augmented version by the Dutch, Adolf Ijpeij, and the original book of "Seimi Kaiso" was "Leidraad der Chemie voor Beginnennde Liefhebbers, 1803" ("Ishi Seimi").
It was not simply the translation book, however, he augmented the book with new knowledge from the Dutch chemical book such as "Sijstematisch handboek der beschouwende en werkdaadig Scheikunde" ("Ishi Kogi") by Adolf Ijpeij and "Leerboek der Scheikunde" ("Soshi Seimi") by F. van Catz. Smallenburg, and edited it with the considerations from the results of the experiment by Yoan himself.
For the publication, Yoan created new coined terms into the scientific terms which did not exist in Japan. Yoan created the coined terms such as element names; oxygen (酸素, sanso), hydrogen (水素, suiso), nitrogen (窒素, chisso), carbon (炭素, tanso), chemical terms; element (元素, genso), oxidation (酸化, sanka), reduction (還元, kangen), dissolution (溶解, yokai), analysis (分析, bunseki), and biological terms; cell (細胞, saibo), classification of organisms (生物の分類, seibutsu no bunrui).
Moreover, he wrote not only a natural science but also "Seiyo Doryoko" which was about Western scales and measures in Dutch, "Oran Shiryakuko" which was about Dutch history and geography, and "Kohi Setsu" which introduced a coffee.