Matsumoto Ryōjun (松本 良順), July 13, 1832 – March 12, 1907) was a Japanese physician and photographer who served as the personal physician to the last shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu. He later changed his name to Baron Matsumoto Jun (松本 順). He was also a distant relative of Navy Minister Enomoto Takeaki.
As shown in the Hakuōki franchise, Dr. Matsumoto was a skilled medic whose knowledgeability was appreciated even by the shōgun himself.
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Background
Sato Junnosuke was born on July 13, 1832, in Edo, as the son of Sato Taizen, the physician of Sakura Domain, residing at the clan's Azabu residence. In 1849, he was adopted by another physician named Matsumoto Ryōho, and his name was changed to Matsumoto Ryōjun. In 1850, his first son, Keitaro, was born.
In 1857, he was sent to Nagasaki to study rangaku, where he had the opportunity to learn both western medicine and photography from J. L. C. Pompe van Meerdervoort, a Dutch physician. However, he was not particularly impressed with his instructor's skills, once describing the result of one of Pompe van Meerdervoort's photographic experiments as "a meagre black shadow". In 1859, the Swiss photographer Pierre Rossier arrived in Japan, and Matsumoto instructed Maeda Genzō to assist Rossier. Maeda later became a pioneering Japanese photographer. Sometime between 1857 and 1859, Matsumoto also adopted Uchida Kuichi, a 13-year-old boy who would become a renowned photographer in the future.
Shinsengumi
In 1864, Matsumoto relocated to Kyoto to assist Matsudaira Katamori, the daimyō of Aizu Domain, during his tenure as Kyoto Shugoshoku, and contributed to modernizing medical practices in the domain. He also formed a friendship with Kondō Isami, the leader of the Shinsengumi, and provided medical assistance to the group. During the Second Chōshū expedition in 1866, he served as the personal physician to Tokugawa Iemochi, the 14th shōgun of the Tokugawa Bakufu.
Boshin War
During the Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration, Matsumoto volunteered as an army medic, serving with the Bakufu Army. After the Battle of Aizu in 1868, he made his way to Sendai and joined the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei (alliance of the domains of Mutsu, Dewa, and Echigo). Following the war, he was briefly imprisoned by the new Meiji government but was released thanks to the efforts of Yamagata Aritomo, who requested his assistance in developing the medical corps of the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. Matsumoto established the Western-style hospital Ranjoin in Waseda, Tokyo.
After the war
Throughout the Meiji era, he maintained connections with former retainers of the Bakufu. In 1871, upon the recommendation of Yamagata Aritomo, he was appointed to the Ministry of War, receiving the Senior Fifth Rank and adopting the name Matsumoto Jun. In 1873, he became the Surgeon General of the Imperial Japanese Army. He played a crucial role in helping Sugimura Yoshie (formerly Nagakura Shinpachi) and Fujita Gorō (formerly Saitō Hajime) erect a monument known as the Grave of Shinsengumi in Itabashi, Tokyo, in 1875.
On September 29, 1890, he became a member of the House of Peers. Matsumoto retired from the Imperial Army on April 1, 1902, and on March 2, 1905, he was granted the title of baron (danshaku) under the Kazoku peerage system. He passed away on March 12, 1907, and was laid to rest at the Myodai-ji temple in Ōiso, Kanagawa.
References
- Bennett, Terry. Early Japanese Images (Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1996), 54–56.
- Himeno, Junichi. "Encounters With Foreign Photographers: The Introduction and Spread of Photography in Kyushu". In Reflecting Truth: Japanese Photography in the Nineteenth Century, ed. Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, Mikiko Hirayama. (Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2004), pp. 21–22.