My Long-Awaited Second Visit to Kakunodate
Kakunodate has become a convenient place for sightseeing since it is now a stop on the Akita Shinkansen line. I had wanted to visit Kakunodate again ever since I went there decades ago, back when the Shinkansen didn't even run there. I secretly wished to visit Kakunodate again to properly see the exhibition of Naotake Odano, who drew the illustrations for the Kaitai Shinsho (New Book of Anatomy). That was the motivation for my trip to Akita.
When I visited the samurai residences in Kakunodate decades ago and found the cover of the Kaitai Shinsho (on display) that I had seen in my textbooks, I was truly surprised.
My head was filled with silly questions: How did he help create the Kaitai Shinsho in Kakunodate, so far from Edo? Why is the Kaitai Shinsho in a samurai residence?
The answer is simple: Naotake Odano had come to the Edo residence from the Kakunodate Domain to draw the illustrations.
While Hakuseki Arai and Ryotaku Maeno, who authored the Kaitai Shinsho, faced many hardships, it must have also been a huge task for Naotake Odano, who was selected to draw illustrations of internal organs in an era when dissection was not permitted.
I vaguely think that talented people have always been concentrated in Edo (Tokyo), both now and in the past. By the way, it seems it was Gennai Hiraga who discovered Naotake.
Even if they only appear briefly in history textbooks, there are many people who have achieved great things, and he is one person who makes me realize that there was an incredible amount of talent scattered all over Japan.
One of the storehouses here holds the exhibition of Naotake Odano.
When looking at the Aoyagi House exhibition, it is clear that every item has been used with care. From weapons and high-quality tableware to everyday household items and kitchenware, everything has been carefully stored, and each piece has been used thoroughly and with great care.
Buying cheap things casually and tossing them away when you get bored—the quality of life is different from today.
Although Naotake achieved great things, he fell from grace (there are various theories) and returned to Kakunodate, where he passed away. It is a pity, but as an artist, his works remain, his name remains, and he continues to move us today, making us think, 'Oh! This is the illustrator of the Kaitai Shinsho!'
It seems it has been moved to a different location than it was at the time, but it still exists.
I couldn't look around carefully decades ago, so I went this time with high spirits, intending to take my time and compare it with my memories, but none of my memories came back. If anything, it was nice that it felt fresh.
The only thing I remembered correctly was that the parking lot was in the same place. It's funny what kind of random things you remember.