Japan: A portrait of the Japanese botanist and herbalist Ono Ranzan (1729-1810), 1810. Painted by Tani Bunchō (1763-1841)

Ono Ranzan (小野蘭山) worked as an herbalist in the mid-Edo period. Herbalism is an ancient Chinese study involving research into plants and minerals, focusing on their importance for medicinal usage.

Ranzan published Japan’s most comprehensive literature on herbalism, 'Honzo Koumoku Keimou (Enlightenment for Compendium of Materia Medica)' in 1803 and he is known to have contributed later to the expansion of natural history.

He died in 1810 and his grave was built in Geisetsuin graveyard in Asakusa, but due to the impact of the Great Kanto Earthquake, it was moved to Nerima in 1927.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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Pictures From History