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*''Died: An'ei 8/12/18 (24 Jan [[1780]])''
*''Died: An'ei 8/12/18 (24 Jan [[1780]])''
*''Other Names'': 白石国倫 ''(Shiraishi Kunimune)''
*''Other Names'': 白石国倫 ''(Shiraishi Kunimune)''
*''Japanese'': 平賀源内 ''(Hiraga Gennai)''
*''Japanese'': 平賀 源内 ''(Hiraga Gennai)''
Hiraga Gennai was a polymath, a ''[[rangaku]]'' scholar and writer of popular fiction.
Hiraga Gennai was a polymath, a ''[[rangaku]]'' scholar and writer of popular fiction.
In [[1757]], at the urging of his teacher Tamura Chinsui, he organized a conference or convention on medicines, at the [[Shoheizaka gakumonjo|Yushima Seidô]], which was so successful that it came to be repeated on an annual basis. These exhibitions of herbs and medicines, brought from all across the country by physicians and scholars, are counted as a major development in the history of precursors to the "museum" in Japan.
In [[1757]], at the urging of his teacher Tamura Chinsui, he organized a conference or convention on medicines, at the [[Shoheizaka gakumonjo|Yushima Seidô]], which was so successful that it came to be repeated on an annual basis. These exhibitions of herbs and medicines, brought from all across the country by physicians and scholars, are counted as a major development in the history of precursors to the "museum" in Japan.
Gennai became a prominent and popular fiction writer beginning around [[1763]], the year he published ''[[Nenashigusa]]''<!--根南志具佐--> and ''[[Furyu Shidoken den|Fûryû Shidôken den]]''<!--風流志道軒伝-->. He discovered asbestos at the Nakatsugawa on [[Mt. Chichibu]], and experimented with the production of fireproof garments. Around the same time, he began writing on mining, a project of writing thoughts on "national development" which continued into his last years. Along with Sugita Genpaku, he made visits to Edo's [[Nagasaki-ya]] every spring, meeting with representatives of the [[Dutch East India Company]] and obtaining books and other materials for further pursuing an encyclopedic knowledge of the West.
Gennai became a prominent and popular fiction writer beginning around [[1763]], the year he published ''[[Nenashigusa]]''<!--根南志具佐--> and ''[[Furyu Shidoken den|Fûryû Shidôken den]]''<!--風流志道軒伝-->. He is also known for writing a number of texts related to ''[[shudo|shûdô]]'' (aka ''nanshoku''), including guides to ''kodomoya'' (brothels of [[wakashu|young male prostitutes]]).<ref>Joshua Mostow, "Wakashu as a Third Gender and Gender Ambiguity through the Edo Period," in Mostow and Asato Ikeda (eds.), ''A Third Gender'', Royal Ontario Museum (2016), 29.</ref>
He discovered asbestos at the Nakatsugawa on [[Mt. Chichibu]], and experimented with the production of fireproof garments. Around the same time, he began writing on mining, a project of writing thoughts on "national development" which continued into his last years. Along with Sugita Genpaku, he made visits to Edo's [[Nagasaki-ya]] every spring, meeting with representatives of the [[Dutch East India Company]] and obtaining books and other materials for further pursuing an encyclopedic knowledge of the West.
After his puppet play ''[[Shinrei yaguchi no watashi]]''<!--神霊矢口渡--> had its stage debut, at the orders of [[Tanuma Okitsugu]], Gennai returned to Nagasaki to study, specifically towards becoming a translator of Dutch books. He did not translate very many materials, but tried his hand at oil painting, and returned to Edo in 1772 having obtained wool and felt, new materials to experiment with. The following year, he was invited to [[Akita han]] to help with the redevelopment of their mining operations. While there, he trained daimyô [[Satake Shozan|Satake Shôzan]] and domainal official [[Odano Naotake]] in ''[[ranga]]'' (Western-style oil painting); the pair would lead others in painting in oils, developing their own school/style today called [[Akita ranga]].
After his puppet play ''[[Shinrei yaguchi no watashi]]''<!--神霊矢口渡--> had its stage debut, at the orders of [[Tanuma Okitsugu]], Gennai returned to Nagasaki to study, specifically towards becoming a translator of Dutch books. He did not translate very many materials, but tried his hand at oil painting, and returned to Edo in 1772 having obtained wool and felt, new materials to experiment with. The following year, he was invited to [[Akita han]] to help with the redevelopment of their mining operations. While there, he trained daimyô [[Satake Shozan|Satake Shôzan]] and domainal official [[Odano Naotake]] in ''[[ranga]]'' (Western-style oil painting); the pair would lead others in painting in oils, developing their own school/style today called [[Akita ranga]].
Gennai went into a depression beginning in [[1776]]. Though his reproduction of a Dutch electricity generator, among other projects, were successful, the Chichibu mines, and various other projects, were not, and Gennai experienced periods of great frustration and exasperation, flying into fits of rage at times. He toyed around with a number of popular publications, perhaps hoping they would be a productive distraction, but in 1777/11, he killed someone in a fit of rage. He died a month later in prison; Sugita Genpaku's epitaph on Gennai's grave reads "An extraordinary death for an extraordinary man."
Gennai went into a depression beginning in [[1776]]. Though his reproduction of a Dutch electricity generator, among other projects, were successful, the Chichibu mines, and various other projects, were not, and Gennai experienced periods of great frustration and exasperation, flying into fits of rage at times. He toyed around with a number of popular publications, perhaps hoping they would be a productive distraction, but in 1779/11, he killed someone in a fit of rage. He died a month later in prison; Sugita Genpaku's epitaph on Gennai's grave reads "An extraordinary death for an extraordinary man."
==References==
==References==
*"[http://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%B9%B3%E8%B3%80%E6%BA%90%E5%86%85 Hiraga Gennai]." ''Asahi Nihon rekishi jinbutsu jiten'' 朝日日本歴史人物事典. Asahi Shimbun.
*"[http://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%B9%B3%E8%B3%80%E6%BA%90%E5%86%85 Hiraga Gennai]." ''Asahi Nihon rekishi jinbutsu jiten'' 朝日日本歴史人物事典. Asahi Shimbun.
*Yonemoto, Marcia. ''Mapping Early Modern Japan''. University of California Press, 2003. pp109-128.
*Yonemoto, Marcia. ''Mapping Early Modern Japan''. University of California Press, 2003. pp109-128.
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[[Category:Scholars and Philosophers]]
[[Category:Scholars and Philosophers]]