User:Immanuelle/Tenmongata

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Asakusa Observatory of Tenmongata by Hokusai

The Tenmongata (天文方, Astronomy Agency) was a place for studying astronomy run by the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo, Japan (now Tokyo). It is one of the forerunners of today's University of Tokyo.

Overview

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In the past, astronomical studies and calendar revisions were done by the Onmyo-no-tsukasa (陰陽寮), set up by Emperor Tenmu in the 7th century. The Tenmongata was created in 1684 when the Tokugawa Shogunate decided to switch from the Senmyō calendar, which had been used for 823 years and had many errors, to the new Jōkyō calendar. The inventor of the calendar, Harumi Shibukawa, became the head of the institute.[1]

The institute also did surveys, map-making, and translated European academic books and papers. The translation department (蛮書和解御用, Bansho Wagegoyo) later became the Bansho Shirabesho [simple; en], which was a forerunner of humanities studies at the University of Tokyo.[2]

 
The first modern map of Japan by Ino and Takahashi

The eighth shogun Yoshimune put a lot of money into this institute to learn European modern science. This brought in many great scholars, books, and equipment. The Kansei Calendar was made by Yoshitoki Takahashi in 1798, which included the elliptical orbits of the sun and moon. His student Tadataka Ino and he made the first detailed modern map of Japan in 1821.[3]

The job of chief astronomer was usually passed down in families, but often, talented astronomers were adopted, making it based on skill.

After the Meiji Restoration, it became one of the main beginnings of science studies at the University of Tokyo.[2]

References

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  1. "利用案内・情報 ≫ ホットニュース ≫ 2010-06-15 :: 国立科学博物館 National Museum of Nature and Science,Tokyo". www.kahaku.go.jp. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "東京大学は2027年に創立150周年を迎えます". 東京大学 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  3. "知の職人たち-南葵文庫に見る江戸のモノづくり-". www.lib.u-tokyo.ac.jp. Retrieved 2024-03-23.

Template:University of Tokyo

See also

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Footnotes

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References

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Further reading

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