Kusumoto Ine

In this Japanese name, the family name is "Kusumoto".

Kusumoto Ine (楠本 イネ^?, 10 May 1827 - 27 August 1903), also known as Oine was the first female doctor of Western medicine in Japan,^[1] and the daughter of German Dejima-based physician Philipp Franz von Siebold.

Her mother was Kusumoto Otaki, who may have been a courtesan but who in any case bore a courtesan's stamp in her official papers allowing her access to Siebold in Dejima,^[2] the Dutch East India Company enclave in Nagasaki closed to almost all Japanese but courtesans.

Her father was caught smuggling a variety of items, chiefly forbidden maps (which, it was believed, could fall into the hands of Japan's enemies, such as Russia, which posed a threat on Japan's northern borders), and was sentenced with banishment from Japan on 22 October 1829.^[3] He left the country by the end of 1829, two-year-old Oine and her mother waving goodbye to him from a small boat in the harbor as his ship pulled away.^[1]

Oine remained in touch with her father during his long exile, and was provided with Western medicines by him and with a training in Western medicine by his students who remained in Dejima.^[1]

Her father returned to Japan on 4 August 1859, after thirty years of absence. By this time, Oine had married, had a daughter of her own, become the first female doctor of Western medicine in Japan and established a gynecology clinic in Nagasaki. She would see him for the last time in April 1862, as he was forced to return to Europe once again, and never returned to Japan.^[1]

References

• Lambourne, Lionel. Japonisme: Cultural Crossings Between Japan and the West. London: Phaidon, 2005.

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Lambourne. p24.
2. ^ Lambourne. p20.
3. ^ Lambourne. p22.

Persondata
Name	Kusumoto, Ine
Alternative names
Short description	Physician
Date of birth	10 May 1827
Place of birth
Date of death	27 August1903
Place of death