Shibue Chohaku

• Born: 1760
• Died: 1830
• Japanese: 渋江長伯 (Shibue Chôhaku)

Shibue Chôhaku was a physician and herbal specialist (honzôgakusha) in the service of the Tokugawa shogunate. He is said to have been the first to raise sheep in Japan, starting in 1817.

In 1798, he was assigned by the shogunate to establish and manage a garden of medicinal plants at the Tsu han mansion in the Sugamo area of Edo; this came to be known as the Sugamo yakuen. The following year, he traveled to Ezo (Hokkaidô) on shogunate orders to conduct a survey of medicinal plants. In addition to plants, he raised sheep at the Sugamo garden, and experimented with making woolen cloth or felt.

References

• Plaques on-site at Sugamo yakuen.[1]