Edo-period Japan. Dissection, 1783. This illustration is from a book by Genshun Koishi on the dissection of a 40-year-old male criminal executed in Kyōto in 1783.
These illustrations are from the book entitled Seyakuin Kainan Taizōzu, which documents the dissection of a 34-year-old criminal executed in 1798. The dissection team included the physicians Kanzen Mikumo, Ranshū Yoshimura, and Genshun Koishi.
These anatomical illustrations are from the book Kanshin Biyō, by Bunken Kagami. In the last picture, a sheet of transparent paper showing the outline of the body is placed over the anatomical illustration.
Edo-period, Japan. These illustrations are from a book by Bunken Kagami (1755-1819) that documents the dissection of a body belonging to a female criminal executed in 1800.
Japan’s fifth human dissection – and the first to examine the human brain – was documented in a 1772 book by Shinnin Kawaguchi, entitled Kaishihen (Dissection Notes). The dissection was performed in 1770 on two cadavers and a head received from an execution ground in Kyōto.
Japan’s second human dissection, 1758 // First human female dissection, 1759
In 1758, a student of Tōyō Yamawaki’s named Kōan Kuriyama performed Japan’s second human dissection (see illustration on left). The following year, Kuriyama produced a written record of Japan’s first dissection of a human female (see illustration on right). In addition to providing Japan with its first real peek at the female anatomy, this dissection was the first in which the carving was performed by a doctor. In previous dissections, the cutting work was done by hired assistants due to taboos associated with handling human remains.
These illustrations – created in 1732 for an article published in 1741 by an ophthalmologist in Kyōto named Toshuku Negoro – show the skeletal remains of two criminals that had been burned at the stake.
Human skeleton, 1732
This document is thought to have inspired physician Tōyō Yamawaki to conduct Japan’s first recorded human dissection.
Japan’s first recorded human dissection, 1754
These illustrations are from a 1754 edition of a book entitled Zōzu, which documented the first human dissection in Japan, performed by Tōyō Yamawaki in 1750. Although human dissection had previously been prohibited in Japan, authorities granted Yamawaki permission to cut up the body of an executed criminal in the name of science. The actual carving was done by a hired assistant, as it was still considered taboo for certain classes of people to handle human remains.
Edo-Period, Japan. Breast cancer treatment, 1809. These illustrations are from an 1809 book documenting various surgeries performed by Seishū Hanaoka for the treatment of breast cancer. The illustrations here depict the treatment for a 60-year-old female patient.
Here is a selection of old anatomical illustrations that provide a unique perspective on the evolution of medical knowledge in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868).
Trepanning instruments, circa 1790
These illustrations are from a book on European medicine introduced to Japan via the Dutch trading post at Nagasaki. Pictured here are various trepanning tools used to bore holes in the skull as a form of medical treatment.
Trepanning instruments, circa 1790
The book was written by Kōgyū Yoshio, a top official interpreter of Dutch who became a noted medical practitioner and made significant contributions to the development of Western medicine in Japan.
Trepanning instruments, 1769
These illustrations of trepanning instruments appeared in an earlier book on the subject
Here is a selection of old anatomical illustrations that provide a unique perspective on the evolution of medical knowledge in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868).
Anatomical illustrations, late 17th century
These illustrations are from a late 17th-century document based on the work of Majima Seigan, a 14th-century monk-turned-doctor. According to legend, Seigan had a powerful dream one night that the Buddha would bless him with knowledge to heal eye diseases. The following morning, next to a Buddha statue at the temple, Seigan found a mysterious book packed with medical information. The book allegedly enabled Seigan to become a great eye doctor, and his work contributed greatly to the development of ophthalmology in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Here is a selection of old anatomical illustrations that provide a unique perspective on the evolution of medical knowledge in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868).
Pregnancy illustrations, circa 1860
These pregnancy illustrations are from a copy of Ishinhō, the oldest existing medical book in Japan. Originally written by Yasuyori Tanba in 982 A.D., the 30-volume work describes a variety of diseases and their treatment. Much of the knowledge presented in the book originated from China. The illustrations shown here are from a copy of the book that dates to about 1860.
“Miyagino the filial”, (1847/1848 ?), Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)
Print from the series “Stories of dutifulness and loyalty in revenge”.
Depicts one of the two sisters who avenged their father during the 17th century. Their story inspired the kabuki play “Go Taiheiki shiraishi banashi” for instance.
Here the older sister, Miyagino, is represented carrying both a naginata and a sake cup.
Print from the series “Thirty-six Good and Evil Beauties”
The princess Kiyoshi Hikariin draws her sword in order to avenge herself. The folding screen behind her is decorated with the mon (crest) of the powerful Tokugawa family, who ruled the shogunate during the Edo period.
Suzuki Kiitsu (1796-1858), Fan seller, 1832, woodblock print. Fans were mass produced and served as a cheap form of artwork common people to purchase. They often featured typical ukiyo-e themed subjects such as scenes of day to day life and landscapes.
A poet-painter of Edo period Japan, Buson was aesthetically-inclined in ways that bridged the ecological and the contemplative. His life and creations mirror the mix of challenges and privileges faced by many of us during the current pandemic.
The Shiro Ukari is a ghost-like Yokai found in Japan. The Shiro Ukari is a ghost-like Yokai that is white in color with a long, bright yellow eyes, and whiskers. The Shiro Ukari only appeared in a few scrolls from the Edo period and it was created by an artist and everything about it and its origin are unknown.
Folio from Uta makura (The Poem of the Pillow) Kitagawa Utamaro 1788 (Edo Period) The British Museum, London, UK
The album ‘Poem of the Pillow’ is a masterpiece among the erotic works by Utamaro (died 1806), and indeed, among the entire erotica of the Ukiyo-e school.
Utamaro has avoided the stereotypical scenes of love-making that were often produced at the time, and instead created an innovative and powerfully sensual design. He uses a very low viewpoint and places the unusually large figures so that they seem to expand beyond the frame of the picture. The eye is shocked by the white of the woman’s skin against the bright scarlet under-kimono, and the transparency of the gauze fabric that covers the couple’s entwined legs only heightens the sensuousness. Finally, however, the viewer focuses on the heads and shoulders. The details emphasise the emotion of the moment: the man’s eye as he gazes intently at his lover, the tender touch of their delicate fingers and the exquisite nape of the woman’s neck. (britishmuseum.org)
Miroirs des acteurs de kabuki (yakusha awase kagami)
Livre avec les portraits avec poèmes (kyôka) d'acteurs célèbres de kabuki . l'auteur des poèmes est Asakusa Ichindo (1755-1820). Editeur : Tôto (Edo) Yamadaya Sanshirô
“Calligraphy in Various Scripts” Sasaki Shougen Handscroll, ink on silk Late 17th-early 18th century
“A common practice of professional calligraphers during the Edo period was to demonstrate the range of their skills by writing out texts or poems in different scripts sequentially in a single handscroll….This handscroll by Shougen…exhibits a full spectrum of both Chinese and Japenese styles of calligraphy. Included are Chinese poems and prose passages written in bold running script (gyousho), regular script (kaisho), clerical script (reisho), and seal script (tensho); these were alternated with waka inscribed in the Japanese syllabary known as kana. After several sections of poems, Shougen added a biography of T'ao Yuan Ming, a sign of her great respect for the Chinese poet….
The end of the scroll contains some of the most extraordinary passages. The climax is two Chinese poems; the first written in clerical script, and the second in an ornamental form of seal script called "bird” script, in which the characters are wonderfully pictorial. These final two verses read:
Spring waters fill the four valleys, Summer clouds envelop the strange pinnacles, The autumn moon raises its bright radiance, Winter peaks dominate the lone pines.
Deer Cries
Yu, yu, cry the deer Grazing in the fields. I have an honored guest; We strum the zither, blow the panpipes, Blow the panpipes, trill the reeds. Take up the basket of offerings– Here is a man who cares for me And will teach me the ways of Chou.“
-Source: Japanese Women Artists 1600-1900, Patricia Fister. Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. 1988
