Morishima Churyo

A page from Morishima's Ryûkyû-dan, published 1790

• Born: 1754
• Died: 1808/12/4
• Other Names: 森羅万象 (Shinra Banshou, Banzou, Manzou), 桂川甫粲 (Katsuragawa Hosan), 竹杖為軽 (Takezue Nosugaru)
• Japanese: 森島中良 (Morishima Chuuryou)

Morishima Chûryô was a prominent writer and Rangaku scholar of the late 18th century, known as the writer of numerous popularly-published books on foreign cultures, as well as for his gesaku and kyôka.

He was born into a samurai family in Edo, the second son of Katsuragawa Hochiku (aka Kuninori). He studied the writing of gesaku (humorous literature) under Hiraga Gennai, and published a number of gesaku, sharebon, and kibyôshi under his given name, Katsuragawa Hosan, or under the pseudonym Shinra Banshô. He became known as a kyôka poet as well, under the poetry name Takezue Nosugaru, employing the name Morishima Chûryô in writing and publishing his Rangaku works. Some of his most significant Rangaku publications include Kômô zatsuwa ("European Miscellany") published in 1787, Ryûkyû-dan (or Ryûkyû-banashi, "Ryûkyû Conversation") in 1790, and Bango-sen, a Japanese-Dutch dictionary, in 1798.

Morishima's elder brother, Katsuragawa Hoshû IV (aka Kuniakira), served for a time as court physician to the Tokugawa shogun.

References

• Timon Screech, Obtaining Images, University of Hawaii Press (2012), 319.
• "Katsuragawa Hosan," Digital-ban Nihon jinmei daijiten デジタル版 日本人名大辞典, Kodansha, 2009.
• "Shinra Banshô," Daijirin 大辞林, Sanseido Ltd.