Academic inheritance(4)
Siebold: The Father of Western Medicine in Japan
In 1823, Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold came to Japan to serve as a doctor at the Dejima Dutch trading post.
Because he had a reputation as a noted doctor, he received special permission to leave Dejima to treat Japanese people at times. Foreigners were normally forbidden from leaving the island.
The year after his arrival in Japan, he bought a private home in the outskirts of Nagasaki and opened Narutaki-juku, a clinic and private school. There he taught a wide variety of subjects including Western medicine and natural science to students who came from all over Japan.
He took an interest in Japan’s nature and culture and researched them from a scientific viewpoint, then shared the results widely in Europe through books and museums.
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Siebold Memorial Museum
This museum was built in Nagasaki City to honor Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold. It opened on October 1, 1989.
It’s next to the Nationally Designated Historical Landmark “Former Site of Siebold’s Residence (Narutaki-juku).” The building exterior was designed to look like Siebold’s former residence in Leiden, the Netherlands, and its entrance is designed to resemble the home of Siebold’s grandfather Carl Caspar von Siebold.
Location: 2-7-40 Narutaki, Nagasaki-shi, Nagasaki
PH: 095-823-0707 (Siebold Memorial Museum)
Website: Nagasaki City
http://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp.e.jc.hp.transer.com/kanko/820000/828000/p027288.html
Closed: Mondays (opens on holidays), Dec 29 to Jan 3
Admission: 100 yen (general), 50 yen (junior high/elementary)
Transportation: 7 min walk from “Shinnakagawa-machi” tram stop, or 7 min walk from “Nakagawamachi Bus” bus stop
Approx. 10 min from Nagasaki Bypass Nishiyamamachi Exit
Parking: Available (free, 13 cars)