Matsuoka Joan

was an Edo era Japanese Confucianist and herbalist.

Biography

Matsuoka was born in Kyoto in Kanbun 8 as Matsuoka Gentatsu . As an adult, he adopted the name Matsuoka Shoan. He studied philosophy under Yamazaki Ansai and Itō Jinsai, and medicine under Wakasui Inoue.

When Tokugawa Yoshimune became the 8th Shōgun of Japan in 1716, the Shogunate set out to institute an array of economic and cultural reforms in Japan, including the development of herbal studies in the capitol at Edo. Matsuoka would be invited by the Shogunate to continue his studies at the Edo Medical Center, and join Wakaku Kaisho, a private company that conducted pharmaceutical experiments with collected herbs, and developed a commercial pharmaceutical practice for distributing necessary medication to the growing populace. Matsuoka was one of the first Japanese scholars to write a monograph (蕃藷録, "On Sweet Potatoes") dedicated to the analysis of sweet potatoes as a crop.

Matsuoka was a prolific writer and teacher during his time, opening his own school and mentored noted Edo era doctors and scholars Niwa Masahide, Minami Asai, Ono Ranzan, Tanikawa Kotosuga, and Toda Asahiyama. His research of the species, forms, and production of animals and plants lead to great strides in the understanding of herbology and influenced pharmaceutical knowledge throughout East Asia.