Katsuragawa Hoken
- Born: 1730/5/26
- Died: 1783/7/30
- Other Names: 桂川甫筑 (Katsuragawa Hochiku), 甫三 (Hosan), 国訓 (Kuninori)
- Japanese: 桂川 甫賢 (Katsuragawa Hoken)
Katsuragawa Hoken, also known as Hochiku and Kuninori, was a samurai physician in service to the Tokugawa shogunate, and is said to have been particularly exceptional in Dutch medicine. He was the third head of the Katsuragawa family, and third to be called Katsuragawa Hochiku.
He was born in Edo in 1730, the eldest son of Katsuragawa Hochiku (Kuniteru). In 1760, at the age of 30, he followed in his father's footsteps and was named court physician (oku ishi) to the shogunate. He was named to the honorary Buddhist rank of hôgan in 1766. Hoken also served as physician to Takehime, a daughter of the Tokugawa clan who had been married to Shimazu Tsugutoyo.[1] He is also known for his scholarly writings, including the preface to Gotô Godôan's Oranda banashi.[2]
Hoken's sons included the scholar and physician Katsuragawa Hoshû, and writer Morishima Chûryô.[3]
References
- "Katsuragawa Hochiku (3)," Nihon jinmei daijiten, Kodansha 2009.
- ↑ William Fleming, “The World Beyond the Walls: Morishima Chūryō (1756-1810) and the Development of Late Edo Fiction,” PhD dissertation, Harvard University (2011), 94.
- ↑ Yokoyama Manabu 横山学, Ryûkyû koku shisetsu torai no kenkyû 琉球国使節渡来の研究, Tokyo: Yoshikawa kôbunkan (1987), 222.
- ↑ Miyagi Eishô 宮城栄昌, Ryûkyû shisha no Edo nobori 琉球使者の江戸上り, Tokyo: Daiichi Shobô (1982), 226.
