Hiraga Gennai
was a Japanese polymath and ''rōnin'' of the Edo period. He was a pharmacologist, student of ''Rangaku'', author, painter and inventor well known for his '' Erekiteru'' (electrostatic generator), ''Kandankei'' (thermometer) and ''Kakanpu'' (asbestos cloth). Gennai composed several works of literature, including the fictional satires ''Fūryū Shidōken den'' (1763), the ''Nenashigusa'' (1763), and the ''Nenashigusa kohen'' (1768), and the satirical essays ''On Farting'' and ''A Lousy Journey of Love''. He also authored two guidebooks on the male prostitutes of Japan, the ''Kiku no en'' (1764) and the ''San no asa'' (1768). His birth name was Shiraishi Kunitomo, but he later used numerous pen names, including , (his principal literary pen name), and . He is best known by the name Hiraga Gennai. Biography Family history Hiraga Gennai was born in 1729 in the village of Shidoura, Sanuki Province (part of the modern city of Sanuki, Kagawa). He was the third son of Shiroish ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sanuki, Kagawa
is a Cities of Japan, city in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 46,016 in 20847 households and a population density of and a population density of 290 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Sanuki is located in northeast Kagawa Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, facing the Seto Inland Sea to the north, and the Sanuki Mountains to the south. The city lies just east of the prefecture capital, Takamatsu. Neighbouring municipalities Kagawa Prefecture *Higashikagawa, Kagawa, Higashikagawa *Miki, Kagawa, Miki *Takamatsu, Kagawa, Takamatsu Tokushima Prefecture * Awa, Tokushima , Awa *Mima, Tokushima , Mima Climate Sanuki has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Sanuki is 15.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1606 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in Januar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shikoku
is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include , , and , and its current name refers to the four former provinces of Japan, provinces that make up the island: Awa Province (Tokushima), Awa, Tosa Province, Tosa, Sanuki Province, Sanuki, and Iyo Province, Iyo. Geography Shikoku Island, comprising Shikoku and its surrounding islands, covers about and consists of four Prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Ehime Prefecture, Ehime, Kagawa Prefecture, Kagawa, Kōchi Prefecture, Kōchi, and Tokushima Prefecture, Tokushima. Across the Seto Inland Sea lie Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Hyōgo, Okayama Prefecture, Okayama, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi Prefectures on Honshu. To th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposing or shaming the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. Satire may also poke fun at popular themes in art and film. A prominent feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm—"in satire, irony is wikt:militant, militant", according to Literary criticism, literary critic Northrop Frye— but parody, burlesque (literary), burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ginseng
Ginseng () is the root of plants in the genus ''Panax'', such as South China ginseng (''Panax notoginseng, P. notoginseng''), Korean ginseng (''Panax ginseng, P. ginseng''), and American ginseng (''American ginseng, P. quinquefolius''), characterized by the presence of ginsenosides and gintonin. Ginseng is common in the cuisines and medicines of China and Korea. Ginseng has been used in traditional medicine over centuries, though modern clinical research is inconclusive about its medical effectiveness. There is no substantial evidence that ginseng is effective for treating any medical condition and it has not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat or prevent a disease or to provide a health benefit. Although ginseng is sold as a dietary supplement, inconsistent manufacturing practices for supplements have led to analyses of some ginseng products contaminated with unrelated filler (materials), filler compounds, and its excessive use may ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Herbal Medicine
Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments remains limited, prompting ongoing regulatory evaluation and research into their safety and efficacy. Standards for purity or dosage are generally not provided. The scope of herbal medicine sometimes includes fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts. Paraherbalism is the pseudoscientific use of plant or animal extracts as medicine, relying on unproven beliefs about the safety and effectiveness of minimally processed natural substances. Herbal medicine has been used since at least the Paleolithic era, with written records from ancient Sumer, Egypt, Greece, China, and India documenting its development and application over millennia. Modern herbal medicine is widely used globally—especially in Asia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the List of cities in Japan, ninth-most populous city in Japan. More than half (56.8%) of Kyoto Prefecture's population resides in the city. The city is the cultural anchor of the substantially larger Greater Kyoto, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.8 million people. It is also part of the even larger Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area, along with Osaka and Kobe. Kyoto is one of the oldest municipalities in Japan, having been chosen in 794 as the new seat of Japan's imperial court by Emperor Kanmu. The original city, named Heian-kyō, was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang. The emperors of Japan ruled fro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Osaka
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in Japan, following the special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2.7 million in the 2020 census, it is also the largest component of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin Metropolitan Area, which is the List of metropolitan areas in Japan, second-largest metropolitan area in Japan and the 10th-List of urban areas by population, largest urban area in the world with more than 19 million inhabitants. Ōsaka was traditionally considered Japan's economic hub. By the Kofun period (300–538) it had developed into an important regional port, and in the 7th and 8th centuries, it served briefly as the imperial capital. Osaka continued to flourish during the Edo period (1603–1867) and became known as a center of Japanese culture. Following the M ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dutch East Indies Company
The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies, it was granted a 21-year monopoly to carry out trade activities in Asia. Shares in the company could be purchased by any citizen of the Dutch Republic and subsequently bought and sold in open-air secondary markets (one of which became the Amsterdam Stock Exchange). The company possessed quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, strike its own coins, and establish colonies. Also, because it traded across multiple colonies and countries from both the East and the West, the VOC is sometimes considered to have been the world's first multinational corporation. Statistically, the VOC eclipsed all of its rivals in the Asian trade. Be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rangaku
''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: , ), and by extension , is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Western technology and medicine in the period when the country was closed to foreigners from 1641 to 1853 because of the Tokugawa shogunate's policy of national isolation (sakoku). Through Rangaku, some people in Japan learned many aspects of the scientific and technological revolution occurring in Europe at that time, helping the country build up the beginnings of a theoretical and technological scientific base, which helps to explain Japan's success in its radical and speedy modernization following the forced American opening of the country to foreign trade in 1854. History The Dutch traders at Dejima in Nagasaki were the only Europeans tolerated in Japan from 1639 until 1853 (the Dutch had a trading post in Hirado from 1609 till 1641 before they had to move to Dejima), and their movements ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nagasaki, Nagasaki
, officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region have been recognized and included in the World Heritage Sites in Japan, UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. Part of Nagasaki was home to a major Imperial Japanese Navy base during the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War. Near the end of World War II, the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Nagasaki the second city in the world to experience a nuclear attack. The city was rebuilt. , Nagasaki has an estimated population of 392,281, and a population density of 966 people per km2. The total area is . History Nagasaki as a Jesuit port of call The first recorded contact between Portuguese e ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Elekiter Replica
The is the Japanese name for a type of generator of static electricity used for electric experiments in the 18th century. In Japan, Hiraga Gennai presented his own ''erekiteru'' in 1776, derived from an ''erekiteru'' from Holland. The ''erekiteru'' consists of a small box that uses the power of friction to generate electricity and store it. The ''erekiteru'' relied on the various Western experiments with static electricity during the 18th century, which depended on the discovery that electricity could be generated through friction, and on the invention of the Leyden jar in the 1740s, as a convenient means to store static electricity in rather large quantities."電気の実験が盛んになったのは、18世紀になりガラス版の円盤を摩擦する強力な起電機と、1740年代なかばのライデン瓶の発明によります": "The development of experiments with electricity, relied on the creation of powerful static electricity through the friction of a glass c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to the Emperor of Japan, emperor and the ''kuge'' (an aristocratic class). In the term, means 'large', and stands for , meaning 'private land'. From the ''shugo'' of the Muromachi period through the Sengoku period to the daimyo of the Edo period, the rank had a long and varied history. The backgrounds of daimyo also varied considerably; while some daimyo clans, notably the Mōri clan, Mōri, Shimazu clan, Shimazu and Hosokawa clan, Hosokawa, were cadet branches of the Imperial family or were descended from the ''kuge'', other daimyo were promoted from the ranks of the samurai, notably during the Edo period. Daimyo often hired samurai to guard their land, and paid them in land or food, as relatively few could afford to pay them i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |