Kusumoto Ine
Encyclopedia
, also known as Oine was the first female doctor of Western medicine in Japan, and the daughter of German Dejima
-based physician Philipp Franz von Siebold
.
Her mother was Kusumoto Otaki, who may have been a courtesan but who in any case bore a courtesan's stamp in her official papers allowing her access to Siebold in Dejima, the Dutch East India Company
enclave in Nagasaki
closed to almost all Japanese but courtesans.
Her father was caught smuggling a variety of items, chiefly forbidden maps (which, it was believed, could fall into the hands of Japan's enemies, such as Russia, which posed a threat on Japan's northern borders), and was sentenced with banishment from Japan on 22 October 1829. He left the country by the end of 1829, two-year-old Oine and her mother waving goodbye to him from a small boat in the harbor as his ship pulled away.
Oine remained in touch with her father during his long exile, and was provided with Western medicines by him and with a training in Western medicine by his students who remained in Dejima.
Her father returned to Japan on 4 August 1859, after thirty years of absence. By this time, Oine had married, had a daughter of her own, become the first female doctor of Western medicine in Japan and established a gynecology clinic in Nagasaki. She would see him for the last time in April 1862, as he was forced to return to Europe once again, and never returned to Japan.
Dejima
was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world during the Edo period. Dejima was built to...
-based physician Philipp Franz von Siebold
Philipp Franz von Siebold
Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold was a German physician and traveller. He was the first European to teach Western medicine in Japan...
.
Her mother was Kusumoto Otaki, who may have been a courtesan but who in any case bore a courtesan's stamp in her official papers allowing her access to Siebold in Dejima, the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
enclave in Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
closed to almost all Japanese but courtesans.
Her father was caught smuggling a variety of items, chiefly forbidden maps (which, it was believed, could fall into the hands of Japan's enemies, such as Russia, which posed a threat on Japan's northern borders), and was sentenced with banishment from Japan on 22 October 1829. He left the country by the end of 1829, two-year-old Oine and her mother waving goodbye to him from a small boat in the harbor as his ship pulled away.
Oine remained in touch with her father during his long exile, and was provided with Western medicines by him and with a training in Western medicine by his students who remained in Dejima.
Her father returned to Japan on 4 August 1859, after thirty years of absence. By this time, Oine had married, had a daughter of her own, become the first female doctor of Western medicine in Japan and established a gynecology clinic in Nagasaki. She would see him for the last time in April 1862, as he was forced to return to Europe once again, and never returned to Japan.