The Three Generations of Otsuki (Part 1: Gentaku)

Image: Statue of the Three Sages of Otsuki (Ichinoseki City). Front: Otsuki Gentaku; Left: Bankei; Right: Fumihiko

On September 28, 1876, a memorial service (Tsuien-kai) was held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Otsuki Gentaku (Bansui), a pioneer of Western studies (Rangaku). The service was organized by his son (second son) Bankei and his grandsons Shuji (Nyoden) and Fumihiko. The three decided to hold the gathering on Gentaku's birthday rather than the anniversary of his death on March 30. At the Otsuki residence, Gakusetsuro, newly built in Kinsuke-cho, Hongo, Tokyo, a portrait of Gentaku and the "Shingen-kai Zu" (Illustration of the New Year's Gathering) were displayed. In the garden, 28 members of the Army Military Band lined up to play Western music. Yukichi Fukuzawa was also invited and attended this gathering.

Many Western scholars and literati were invited to the memorial service, including Katsuragawa Hoshu (Kuniooki), Sugita Gentan, and Udagawa Kosai, who represented families of Rangaku scholars from the Edo period. Four days prior, Katsu Kaishu heard from Bankei, who visited him, that he wished to hold a 50th-anniversary memorial for Master Bansui. On the day of the event, Kaishu visited the Otsuki residence and noted in his diary ("Kaishu Nikki") that he gave "five yen for incense and flowers." The ceremony began with a congratulatory speech by the missionary Nikolai, who later built Nikolai-do. Fukuzawa also likely read aloud a memorial text he had prepared, stating: "To do something with an external object as the goal is not an act of independence. (...) It is not for fame, nor for profit; only one who works and studies hard to develop their own individual spirit can truly be called a man of unconstrained independence."

Fukuzawa continued, reflecting on the hardships of his predecessors: "Looking back about a hundred years to when the pioneers of Western studies in Japan, such as Masters Maeno, Sugita, and Otsuki, first engaged in Rangaku, the difficulty of their undertaking goes without saying." He then praised them, stating, "Our pioneers of Western studies, living a hundred years ago, already nurtured the elements of this change in the human heart and passed them down to the present day, thereby removing the thorns from the path to civilization." He lauded their achievements in modernization as being greater than those of a commander leading tens of thousands of soldiers. He concluded his remarks with words of caution and encouragement to the attendees, including himself, who inherited that history: "It can be said that today's scholars are also busy. Scholars must strive. Do not fear the strangeness of your theories, do not hesitate at the oddity of your undertakings, and develop a spirit of individual independence."

Otsuki Gentaku was born in 1757. His name was Shigetaka, but he went by Gensetsu, and at age 24, he changed it to Gentaku. He also took the pen name Bansui, derived from the Iwai River, known for the scenery of Genbikei in his hometown of Ichinoseki. When his father, Otsuki Genryo, who practiced Dutch-style surgery, was employed as a physician for the Ichinoseki Domain (a branch of the Sendai Domain), Gentaku studied under his father's colleague, Takebe Seian (the second), for nine years. Takebe was a figure celebrated in the saying, "There are two things that exceed Ichinoseki: the time-keeping drum and Takebe Seian." He was known for sending inquiries about Dutch medicine to Sugita Genpaku in Edo, leading to a correspondence in which Sugita provided answers. Although the two never met in person, they recognized each other as kindred spirits despite the distance. Later, Takebe's son Yuho became Sugita's adopted heir, took the name Hakugen, and succeeded as the head of the Sugita family.

At age 22, Otsuki received permission from the domain for two years of study and went to Edo (a two-year extension was later granted). In Edo, through Takebe's connection, he entered Sugita's Tenshinro school to study mainly medical sciences and also had the opportunity to learn the Dutch language from Maeno Ryotaku, a Rangaku scholar of the Nakatsu Domain. After finishing his studies and returning home, Otsuki was ordered to serve in Edo again. He requested to study in Nagasaki to learn Dutch, which was granted. In Nagasaki, he stayed with the Dutch interpreters Motoki Yoshinaga and his son Shoei to study Rangaku. He also deepened his friendship with Yoshio Kogyu, a famous surgeon who had written the preface to Sugita and Maeno's "Kaitai Shinsho" (New Text on Anatomy). Yoshio's residence, filled with furniture imported from Holland, was called the "Oranda Zashiki" (Dutch Room). On January 1, 1786 (December 2, Tenmei 5), a "Dutch New Year" was held at that residence, and Otsuki was invited. The Dutch New Year was a banquet held by the staff of the Dutch Trading Post to coincide with the New Year of the Western calendar, to which Japanese people were also invited. It was a lively event with Western food and a band playing music. The people of Nagasaki called this the Dutch New Year, and it began to be held among interpreters like Yoshio as well. Otsuki eventually gained access to Dejima, but it was decided that he would be transferred from the Ichinoseki Domain to the main Sendai Domain, and he was instructed to return to Edo immediately. Thus, Otsuki ended his Nagasaki studies, which had been fruitful both personally and professionally, in just over four months. This was 68 years before Fukuzawa set foot in Nagasaki with the ambition of studying Rangaku.

Upon returning to Edo, Otsuki was granted permanent residency in Edo and a private residence by the Sendai Domain. He established a private school in Kyobashi and named it Shirando. The number of students exceeded one hundred, and he sent out many excellent successors in Rangaku. Shirando became a major hub for Rangaku in Edo. Students such as Udagawa Genshin, Inamura Sanpaku, and Hashimoto Sokichi were active as Dutch-style physicians and Rangaku scholars. The school also produced figures like Naka Tenyu (the teacher of Ogata Koan) and Tsuboi Shindo, connecting Otsuki's lineage down to Fukuzawa.

On the 11th day of the intercalary 11th month of Kansei 6, which corresponded to January 1, 1795, in the Western calendar, Otsuki invited many Rangaku scholars to Shirando and held a banquet called the Shingen-kai. Otsuki had noted the details of the Dutch New Year in Nagasaki in his diary and hosted it in Edo. The "Shingen-kai Zu" displayed at the memorial service was painted by his student Ichikawa Gakuzan, who participated that day. The Shingen-kai became an annual event, and even after Otsuki's death, his eldest son Bansato (Genkan) took it over, and it is said to have been held a total of 44 times until 1837 (Tenpo 8).

In 1811 (Bunka 8), the Shogunate established the Bansho Wage Goyo (Office for the Translation of Barbarian Books) as an institution for translating Dutch books. The translation of Dutch books, which Sugita had feared in "Rangaku Kotohajime" (The Beginnings of Rangaku), saying, "One never knew if they might be punished for violating prohibitions; this alone was a point of great terror," became an officially sanctioned project of the Shogunate. The 55-year-old Otsuki entered service by Shogunal order and worked on the translation of the Frenchman Chomel's "Encyclopédie Oeconomique," considered the Shogunate's largest translation project. The translation work continued after Otsuki's death, and the translated volumes were titled "Kosei Shinpen."

Otsuki passed away from illness in 1827 (Bunsei 10), eight years before Fukuzawa was born, but he left behind numerous writings and translations throughout his life. Among the most famous is the "Jutei Kaitai Shinsho" (Revised New Text on Anatomy). Inheriting the great work of his two teachers, he revised the "Kaitai Shinsho," but Otsuki finished it as something that went far beyond a mere revision. While the "Kaitai Shinsho" was a landmark translation that introduced Western medicine to the world, Sugita had prioritized publishing it as quickly as possible, resulting in insufficient translation, which he himself felt needed revision. However, Sugita lacked the time and physical strength to devote to the revision work, so he entrusted it to his disciple Otsuki. Sugita evaluated Otsuki as follows: "Looking at this man's nature, in learning anything, he does nothing without stepping onto the actual ground, and he does not put to pen or tongue what he has not thoroughly understood in his heart. While he lacks bold vigor, he dislikes all things superficial. He is a man with a natural talent for Dutch natural philosophy" ("Rangaku Kotohajime").

Otsuki was naturally of a character that could not rest until he had thoroughly investigated and verified things. For the translation of the original book "Taeffel Anatomia," he consulted literature from all times and places and gained empirical evidence by observing dissections, spending over ten years on the draft. He was able to show this to Sugita, but it took another twenty-odd years until publication. The "Jutei Kaitai Shinsho" finally reached the world only the year before Otsuki passed away.

A work that contributed to the spread of Rangaku was "Rangaku Kaitei" (Steps to Rangaku), published two years after his study in Nagasaki (Tenmei 8). This book was an introductory guide to Rangaku and the Dutch language, consisting of two volumes. The first volume discussed the origins of Rangaku and the mindset required for beginners, while the second volume introduced basic knowledge of the Dutch language, such as letters and numbers, and learning methods. In the first volume, Otsuki conveyed the hardships and spirit of the pioneers of the Rangaku era, such as Sugita: "In all paths, one should imagine the hardships and toil of the founders. Because the work of 'Ware yori inishie o nasu' (creating precedent from oneself) is as difficult as described, it is understandable that no one had initiated this for two hundred years until now." The phrase "Ware yori inishie o nasu" (also read as "Saigo Sakko") is said to come from the Chinese classic "History of Song."

In April 1868 (Keio 4), Fukuzawa named the school that had moved to Shiba Shinsenza "Keio University" and widely published the "Keio Gijuku no Ki (Notes on Keio Gijuku)," which summarized the spirit and principles of the school as if to loudly declare its independence. The "Keio Gijuku no Ki (Notes on Keio Gijuku)" records the achievements of Maeno, Katsuragawa Hoshu (Kunimitsu), Sugita, and others, stating they "devoted their hearts solely to the work of 'Ware yori inishie o nasu,' refining their essence day and night to the point of forgetting sleep and food." Fukuzawa used the phrase "Ware yori inishie o nasu" to express the strong spirit of his predecessors as pioneers who opened the path of Rangaku. Furthermore, Fukuzawa announced the mission that Keio University would inherit the path of Western studies passed down by Otsuki, Ogata, and others.

The phrase "Ware yori inishie o nasu" also appears in "Rangaku Kotohajime," which Sugita wrote at age 83 and entrusted to Otsuki for additions and corrections: "Since it is a matter of 'creating precedent from myself,' I decided to set it in a way that is easy for people to understand." This book is known for being discovered by chance at a street stall by Fukuzawa's close friend Kanda Takahira "at the end of the old Shogunate." Fukuzawa was moved to tears by the hardships and bravery of his predecessors upon reading it. It is thought that Fukuzawa used the phrase "Ware yori inishie o nasu" in the "Keio Gijuku no Ki (Notes on Keio Gijuku)" based on "Rangaku Kotohajime" and "Rangaku Kaitei." Additionally, Fukuzawa worked hard to publish the first edition of "Rangaku Kotohajime" in 1869, and for the 1890 reprint, he contributed a preface recalling the circumstances from its discovery to its publication.

Time passed, and in July 1939, an entrance ceremony for a newly established school was held. This was the Fujiwara Institute of Technology, established with private funds by Ginjiro Fujiwara, who had studied under Fukuzawa, entered society to lead Oji Paper, and was called the "King of Paper." At the same time, Fujiwara had offered to eventually donate this university to Keio University (it actually became the Faculty of Engineering of Keio University in 1944). Given these circumstances, Shinzo Koizumi, who assumed the presidency of the school, gave an instruction to the 198 new students at the first entrance ceremony: "There is a phrase 'Ware yori inishie o nasu' (creating precedent from oneself). You are precisely those who create precedent from yourselves; your history will become the history of the Fujiwara Institute of Technology, and your results will become the results of the Fujiwara Institute of Technology."

It was the moment when the phrase "Ware yori inishie o nasu" used by Otsuki stepped back into the spotlight after 70 years and became a phrase representing the creed of Keio University.