[OKA Kenkai's medical achievements in Shimonoseki and a discussion of the various circumstances leading to his decision to live there: how did western medicine develop in a port located on the western tip of Honshu at the end of the Bunsei era?].

Abstract

Oka Kenkai began practicing medicine in Shimonoseki following the conclusion of his training in western medicine in Nagasaki. He lived there from early spring in the 12th year of the Bunsei Era until mid-March of the following year. During that time, he wrote the "Oka-jyoyoho" and completed a translation of the "Seiki-ron". In addition, Kenkai established the school Seian-juku where he taught Western medicine to the approximately 20 students enrolled there. The school provided instruction not only in Westen medicine, but also other subjects such as the Dutch language and physiology. Notably, Kenkai enriched the field of basic medicine and regarded systematic understanding of academics as important. He came to Shimonoseki in part because of his distant relative SAKOU, who was an influential individual from a prominent Shimonoseki family and a devotee of Dutch culture. SAKOU hired Kenkai as the family physician so Kenkai could look after his personal residence and the honjin (the chief hotel of a post-town). Although Kenkai was only in Shimonoseki for a short year, he left behind exceptional achievements in medical education and literary works.