What day is it today? | Tohoku Edition: What day is it on May 5th?

Takano Choei's birthday (Iwate Prefecture)

Takano Chōei , a physician and scholar of Western learning during the late Edo period, was born on May 5, 1804 (June 12, 1804 in the Gregorian calendar) as the third son of Gotō Saneyoshi, a retainer of the Mizusawa Date family, lords of the Mizusawa domain and a branch of the Sendai Domain in Mutsu Province, and Miyoko, the sister of Takano Gensai, a physician serving as his personal physician.

Because his adoptive father, Gensai, studied Dutch medicine under Sugita Genpaku in Edo, there were many Dutch books in the house, and he himself later studied Dutch medicine

He criticized the Edo shogunate's order to expel foreign ships and advocated for opening the country, which led to his persecution and fugitive status. It is said that during his time on the run, he burned his face with nitric acid to alter his appearance, but he was ultimately driven to suicide and died on October 30, 1850 (December 3, 1850 in the Gregorian calendar) at the age of 46

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