Izawa Ranken, Volume 4

An earthquake sends a sick woman through burning streets. A group of young physicians borrows costumes to put on a play. A doctor carries a rescued gamecock home, while another stakes his position on refusing a steamship. Such moments bring the scholarly households of Edo vividly into view.

The fourth volume of Izawa Ranken follows the physician’s successors, Shinken and Hakuken, through friendship, family life, and service to their lords. Preserved poems, letters, and eyewitness recollections reveal their generosity and stubbornness, their financial struggles, and the care they devoted to pupils and patients.

As foreign ships arrive and Western medicine gains ground, their inherited convictions meet pressures they cannot easily withstand. Mori Ōgai investigates both intimate memories and public controversies, weighing evidence, exposing rumors, and allowing unresolved questions to remain open.