was a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 doctor, botanist

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, and scholar of rangaku

Rangaku

Rangaku is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Western technology and medicine in the period when the country was closed to foreigners, 1641–1853, because of the Tokugawa shogunate’s policy of national...

(Western learning). He was a junior colleague of Sugita Genpaku

Sugita Genpaku

was a Japanese scholar who was known for his translation of Kaitai Shinsho .Besides Kaitai Shinsho, he also authored Rangaku Kotohajime ....

, with whom he studied and worked in Obama Domain

Obama Domain

The Obama Domain was a Japanese feudal domain of the Edo period, based at Obama Castle in Wakasa Province ....

, Wakasa Province

Wakasa Province

was an old province of Japan in the area that is today southern Fukui Prefecture. It is also known as or .The province's ancient capital was at Obama, which continued to be the main castle town through the Edo period.-Neighboring Provinces:...

, a center for Western medicine in Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Along with Sugita and Maeno Ryōtaku　(前野 良沢), Nakagawa prepared Kaitai Shinsho

Kaitai Shinsho

is a medical text translated into Japanese during the Edo period. It is based on the Dutch-language translation Ontleedkundige Tafelen, often known in Japan as , of Kulmus’ German Anatomische Tabellen. As a full-blown translation from a Western language, it was the first of its kind in Japan...

, a translation of the Dutch "New Book of Anatomy." Nakagawa was very active in circles of rangaku scholars, and is said to have played an important role in the field's progression and advancement.

Life

Not much is known about Nakagawa's early life, but his grandfather is believed to have also been a rangaku scholar in Obama. Nakagawa grew up in the Kōjimachi

Kojimachi

is a neighborhood in Chiyoda, Tokyo.Prior to the arrival of Tokugawa Ieyasu, it was known as . The area developed as townspeople settled along the Kōshū Kaidō. In 1878 Kōjimachi became a ward in the city of Tokyo. It was the forerunner of Chiyoda which is now a special ward.The Kōjimachi ward was...

 area of Edo

Edo

, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...

 (modern-day Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

), and studied botany under Tamura Ransui　(田村 藍水). He developed a strong interest in Dutch products, science and culture, and visited the Dutch trading post at Dejima

Dejima

was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world during the Edo period. Dejima was built to...

, Nagasaki

Nagasaki

is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...

 a number of times, where he also studied the Dutch language

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

.

During his time as Tamura's pupil, Nakagawa became quite involved in the rangaku community. He helped revise some of Hiraga Gennai

Hiraga Gennai

was an Edo period Japanese pharmacologist, student of Rangaku, physician, author, painter and inventor who is well known for his Erekiteru , Kandankei and Kakanpu...

's works, including a taxonomic

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

 work called Butsurui Hinshitsu. He also helped in the development of such technologies as fire-resistant cloth and thermometers.

Nakagawa began corresponding with Carl Peter Thunberg

Carl Peter Thunberg

Carl Peter Thunberg aka Carl Pehr Thunberg aka Carl Per Thunberg was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. He has been called "the father of South African botany" and the "Japanese Linnaeus"....

 in 1776. He met and studied with the Swedish botanist that same year in Edo, exploring the fields of natural history

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

 and learning how to take and analyze plant and mineral samples.

Nakagawa died in 1786, possibly from stomach cancer

Stomach cancer

Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...

.