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Philipp Franz von Siebold
(1796
-
1866) was the first Westerner to teach medicine in
Japan. He was a resident physician on
Dejima Island
Nagasaki from
1823 until
1829. He was noted for his study of Japanese
flora and
fauna. He conducted research with the cooperation of the interpreters (institutionalised
by the
Shogun) and Japanese students (Rangaku).
When he was expelled from
Japan in 1829, he went to
Leiden, where he authored Nippon in
1832. In a specially built
glasshouse at his estate 'Deshima'
he cultivated the plants he imported from
Japan to endure the
Dutch
climate. Trivial, matter-of-fact, garden-plants like the
hosta and the
hortensia were imported by Siebold
He also started the tea culture in Java (Then a Dutch
colony) with smuggled tea plants from Japan. Till then Japan had guarded the
trade in Japan very strictly. From the Hortus (the botanical garden) in
Leiden Holland, many of the plants started their conquest of Europe and from
there to other countries. It was not only the Hosta and hortensia, but also
the Azaleas, the Japanese butterbur and coltsfoot, the Japanese larch and so
on.
Quite characteristically 'Siebold' is almost unknown to
the Dutch but a
hero to the Japanese ('Siborut-san').
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