Practical Pursuits

“This excellent book about Rangaku and Western-style medicine in the late Tokugawa Period brings new vitality to debates over the importance of Western influences in the 19th century Japan.”—Ann Jannetta, Japan Times

“In this clearly written and well-researched work, Ellen Gardner Nakamura sheds new light on important aspects of social and intellectual life in Japan in the early nineteenth century… Nakamura explores the social networks and practices involved in the diffusion of new forms of knowledge from Europe and argues that ranpō (Dutch method) physicians created new ‘hybrid’ therapies as a result of their ‘adaptive’ and ‘creative’ use of Western medicine.”—Susan L. Burns, Journal of Japanese Studies