Takamine Tokumei was an Okinawan interpreter (Chinese-Japanese). His another name was Gishitetsu. He was ordered to learn hairlip surgery and successfully performed surgery for the grandson of King Sho Tei, Sho Eki under general anesthesia.

Life and Achievements

He was born on February 15, 1653 in Okinawa. Being very bright in his chilhood, he went to Fuzhou

Fuzhou

Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....

 at age 10, and learned Chinese in 3 years. He became an interpreter and he was given a name of 魏士哲(Gishi Tetsu) by the King Sho Tei. In 1688, he was a secretary and was on his 4th visit to Fuzhou

Fuzhou

Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....

 ,and he learned that a boatman received surgery and his hairlip was corrected. The grandson of King Sho Tei, Sho Eki had hairlip. The 4 representatives of the Ryukyu Kingdom

Ryukyu Kingdom

The Ryūkyū Kingdom was an independent kingdom which ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th century to the 19th century. The Kings of Ryūkyū unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Sakishima Islands near Taiwan...

 at Fuzhou

Fuzhou

Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....

 ordered Tokumei to learn surgery because of his Chinese and his skill. Earlier, a secretary named Oomine Sen-yu (大嶺詮雄,birth and death unknown) was ordered to learn surgery but he was unsuccessful. The Chinese physician was 黄會友(Kou Kai Yuu, in Japanese). He first refused to teach surgery because it was a secret, but finally agreed to teach surgery due to the eagerness of Tokumei. After 20 days of learning, Tokumei showed his skill and corrected the hairlip of a 13-year-old man before his teacher. Tokumei was given a book of the surgery and returned to Okinawa in May, 1689. He performed the surgery in 5 patients and performed the surgery for 10-year-old King Grandson Sho Eki on October 23. The surgery was successful and it was said that scar was not visible. He performed the surgery under general anesthesia, 115 years prior to Hanaoka Seishu

Hanaoka Seishu

was a Japanese surgeon of the Edo period with a knowledge of Chinese herbal medicine, as well as Western surgical techniques he had learned through Rangaku...

 who performed removal of mammary cancer under general anesthesia, previously, the first general anesthesia in Japan. In 1690 he taught Satsuma

Satsuma

Satsuma may refer to:* Satsuma , a citrus fruit* Satsuma , a genus of land snails-In Japan:* Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town* Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture...

doctors this surgery and in 1714 to Okinawan doctors.

Matsuki Akitomo

It was Matsuki Akitomo, the professor of anesthesiology, Hirosaki University who reported about this surgery first in the medical world. He wrote that a half century has passed since K. Higaon-na, a historian from Okinawa, first reported that in 1689 Tokumei Takamine (1653-1738) had performed successfully a hare-lip operation under general anesthesia with mafutsu-san for a royal grandchild Sho-eki of the Ryukyu Dynasty in the Ruykuys, now known as Okinawa.