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Phillip Franz von Siebold of Germany came to Japan in 1823 as the resident
physician for the Dutch East India Company (VOC) on the island of Dejima.
His main task was, however, not as a physician, but as an investigator
of flora, fauna, and topography of Japan, information useful to Europeans
in the pursuit of Japan as a potential trading partner. It was necessary
to identify and develop trade products, and to that end Siebold made detailed
investigations into the nature of the Japanese people, their topography,
their customs, and their manufactures. Becoming known as a physician, Siebold
was allowed in 1824 to purchase a house on the outskirts of Nagasaki in
a place called Narutaki in which to carry out treatment of patients, to
educate pupils from all over the nation in the practice of medicine, and
to carry out his research on Japan with their help. The Narutaki Academy
not only became a center for medical education, but also a focal point
for education about Western technology in general (called Rangaku) to the
brightest young minds of the time. It is no exaggeration to say that Siebold's
foremost disciples from this school, men such as Takano Choei (1804-1850),
Ninomiya Keisaku (1804-1862), Mima Junzo (1795-1825), and Taka Ryosai (1799-1846)
were the prime movers in the opening of Japan to the outside world, in
its modernization, and in the spread of Western knowledge and academic
expertise. The Siebold University of Nagasaki opened its doors in 1999,
on the 175th anniversary of Siebold's Narutaki Academy. We believe that
students who gather at our campus can open a new age for Japan as did their
predecessors at Siebold's Academy in Narutaki.
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