was a Japanese physician and scholar known for his translation of Kaitai Shinsho (New Book of Anatomy) and a founder of Rangaku (Western learning) and Ranpō (Dutch style medicine) in Japan. He was one of the first Japanese scholars in Edo (modern day Tokyo) to study the Dutch language and is credited with being one of the first Japanese physicians to study Western medical teachings in Japan. In 1771 Genpaku and Maeno Ryōtaku, a Japanese scholar studying the Dutch language, translated a Dutch book of anatomy Ontleedkundige Tafelen, originally published in German by physician and professor Johann Adam Kulmus in 1734. Genpaku was inspired to translate the Dutch text after witnessing the dissection of a female criminal while viewing Ontleekundige Tafelen as an anatomical reference throughout the dissection. He was inspired by the German drawings of human organs, which accurately depicted the organs and vasculature he saw during the dissection. The German drawings were more anatomically detailed and accurate than Chinese texts and after the dissection he and his colleagues made it their scholarly mission to produce a Japanese translation of the Ontleekundige Tafelen. It took three full years and eleven manuscripts to produce the first translation of the text entitled Kaitai Shinsho in 1774. Early life Born in the Wakasa-Obama estate of Feudal Lord Wakasa in 1733, Genpaku was the son of a physician, Hosen Sugita, who was the official doctor of Feudal Lord Wakasa. Genpaku's mother, daughter of Genkō Yomogida, died during childbirth. Around age 17, Genpaku began studying surgery under Gentetsu Nishi. He also studied Confucianism under Saburoemon Miyase. Genpaku moved away from his father's home at age 25 after being granted permission from his liege lord to begin working as a medical practitioner. His first business was located at 4-chōme, Nihonbashidōri and was attached to the home of painter Sekkei Kusumoto. Career Genpaku was forced to relocate his medical practice from Nihonbashidōri-dōri to Hakoya-chō in 1759 and later to Horidome-chō in 1762, both due to losing his property from fires. He later left Horidome-chō and moved to property owned by Feudal Lord Sakai around 1770. Under the rule of the Tokogawa shoguns, Genpaku lived in a period Japanese isolation from the Western world and most of East Asia. The period of isolation, sakoku, was driven by the shogun's desire to halt the spread of Christianity propagated largely by Portuguese missionaries. During this period, Nagasaki was the