21 Facts About Hiraga Gennai

Hiraga Gennai was a pharmacologist, student of Rangaku, author, painter and inventor well known for his Erekiteru, Kandankei and Kakanpu.

Hiraga Gennai authored two guidebooks on the male prostitutes of Japan, the Kiku no en and the San no asa.

Hiraga Gennai is best known by the name Hiraga Gennai.

Hiraga Gennai was born in 1729 in the village of Shidoura, Sanuki Province.

Hiraga Gennai was the third son of Shiroishi Mozaemon, a low-level provincial samurai in the service of the Takamatsu Domain.

Hiraga Gennai studied Confucianism and haiku poetry, and crafted kakejiku as a child in Takamatsu.

In 1741, Hiraga Gennai began his studies as an herbalist and became an apprentice to a physician at the age of 12.

Later at the age of 18 Hiraga Gennai was offered an official position in the herb garden of the local Daimyo.

In 1752, Hiraga Gennai was sent to Nagasaki to study western medicine, including European pharmaceutical and surgical techniques and other rangaku topics.

The interaction that Hiraga Gennai had with the Chinese merchants and members of the VOC introduced him to ceramics.

In Edo, he studied with Tamura Ransui, and with his oversight and support Hiraga Gennai began to cultivate natural specimens of ginseng.

Hiraga Gennai returned to Nagasaki to study mining and the techniques of refining ores.

Hiraga Gennai held exhibitions of his various inventions in Edo, and came to be known to Tanuma Okitsugu, a senior official in the Tokugawa shogunate, as well as the doctors Sugita Genpaku and Nakagawa Jun'an.

In 1772, while on a trip to Nagasaki, Hiraga Gennai uncovered a store of clay; this led to him petitioning the government to allow him to manufacture pottery on a large scale, for both exports and domestic use.

Hiraga Gennai made or instructed a number of Japanese pottery pieces which are named Hiraga Gennai ware after him.

Hiraga Gennai was back in Edo by the summer of 1779, where he undertook repairs to a Daimyo mansion.

Hiraga Gennai published many works over the course of his literary career.

Hiraga Gennai argues that the feat is impressive and commendably unique.

Kinkichiro argues that it goes against everything that the "true sages" taught society about human decency and etiquette, but Hiraga Gennai sees the fart-ist's creativity and wisdom in being able to make such useless excess into music.

In Hiraga Gennai's description of hell, it is a lively place, but is currently in the midst of a large construction project.

Hiraga Gennai employs frequent wordplay and puns, which add to the absurdity and humor of telling a story from the perspective of a louse.