Mathis 1

Travis Mathis

Professor Fong

History 311

20th September, 2010

A Journey of Mathematics Throughout Japanese History

There are many different ways to define the development of a civilization, from the laws

it chooses to invest in to the expressions of its art and music, yet all human invention must have

an origin. Japan's origins, while veiled in many unknowns, seems to be sluggish compared to

that of its surrounding continent-based countries. The progression of ancient mathematics in

Japan follows very closely with its surrounding neighbors --China and Korea--, and more

recently, Japanese mathematics has fallen contiguous to the western world; however, during the

Edo period when Japan was shut off from the western world, it was able to develop a few unique

ideas and techniques.

From the earliest periods of Japan, there is little known about development in anything let

alone mathematics, because Japan had no early written records or they have long since perished.

Nevertheless, there can be gleaned a certain level of understanding from the language and

folklore of a people and this is the case with early Japan. Basic arithmetic must have existed out

of necessity, and there is speculation about the early study of astronomy. "It was not until 284,

the fifteenth year of Emperor Ojin's rule, that there are rumors of Chinese ideograms finally

arriving in Japan from Korea."1 Using these, Japanese nobles began learning to read and write

Chinese characters and communicate simple mathematical problems. The only definitive

evidence that exists before 552 is that of a number system. "In the reign of Izanagi-no-Mikoto,

the ancestor of the Mikados, a system of numeration was known that extended to very high
 Mathis 2

powers of ten."2 This system while sharing some similarities with later representations of

numbers, had different names for each power of ten than in use today. While many people

believe many different things about the early stages of Japan's history, nearly all of it is

speculation and conjecture.

The second period of Mathematics in Japan, relates to a Japanese dark ages which lasts

for nearly 1,000 years, and surprisingly, follows in time with that of the European dark ages.

"Just as the Northern European lands came in contact with the South, and imbibed some slight

draught of classical learning, and then lapsed into a state of indifference except for the influence

of an occasional great soul like that of Charlemagne, so Japan drank lightly at the Chinese

fountain and then lapsed again into semi-barbarism."3 There are two events which border the

Japanese dark ages period: the introduction of Buddhism in 522, and the revival of learning in

1600. It is important to note that this so called dark ages refers only to Japanese development

into mathematics and science, and that the country did not fall into the seemingly all-

encompassing drought in which Europe found itself. One man's reign is worth mentioning

during this period, Emperor Tenchi, from 668 until 671. "This man invented a water clock and

divided the day into a hundred hours before becoming Emperor, and after rising to power, he

created a school in which there where two doctors of arithmetic and twenty students of the

subject."4 While it seems this new school had a few older Chinese mathematical texts, it failed to

produce any writing of their own, and therefore, is looked upon as a failure. During these years,

most of the Chinese texts and ideas were kept in the Buddhist monasteries for safe keeping,

however mathematics was not a subject that appealed to the religious body. There is a story of

an Ashikaga Shogun during this period, in which it is stated that there can hardly be found in all

of Japan a man who is versed in the art of division. This contrasts quite a difference in the
 Mathis 3

mathematical understanding of people between Japan and even Korea at this time. One other

notable event is that of the creation of a government organization, "In 718, the Japanese

government passed a law called, yoryo ritsuryo, which literaly means: law of the yoryo age.

This new law created the office of San Hakase or Arithmetic Intelligence."5 This program was

responsible for measuring the fields of the nobility and then using those measurements to

calculate the correct amount of taxes per each field.

The third, easily defined, period in Japanese mathematics must be preceded by the

invention of a remarkable calculating machine called the Soroban. The Japanese Soroban was

derived from a similar Chinese instrument called a swan-pan, which was in use around 1600.

"The swan-pan is thought to have been invented by a Chinese mathematician named Mei Wen-

ting who is known to be one of China's greatest mathematicians."6 This instrument uses short

and long rods to add up and keep track of numbers used in calculating simple arithmetic. It was

indispensible for anyone who wanted to learn mathematics at the time from elementary students

to the most advanced calculations.

By beginning to use instruments such as the soroban, as well as the work started by Mori

Kambei Shigeyoshi near 1600, marks the beginning of the third age of Japanese mathematics and

an overall intellectual awakening. While it only lasts for about seventy-five years, this period is

looked at as the birthplace of some original Japanese mathematics. "Mori and his student

Yoshida Shichibei Koyu, were the first two Japanese mathematicians to write down and print out

a few simple texts which deal with calculation of the Japanese soroban in 1627."7 While these

publications were very simple and even looked down upon by many of the nobles and samurai of

the time, they paved the way for other people to begin studying and using the soroban in

everyday life. The public eye soon turned onto the up-start mathematicians favorably, and in
 Mathis 4

1641, Yoshida was called to the court of Hosokawa that he might instruct the feudal lord of Higo

in the art of numbers. After these instructions, Yoshida seems to have enjoyed teaching for he

gathers a great number of students to study under him. This third period of mathematical history

and Japans renaissance of intellectual awakening came to a change in 1675 with the help of a

Man named Seki Kowa.

"Newton having invented the calculus of fluxions in the west, while Seki possibly

invented the yenri or circle principle in the east, each designed to accomplish much the same

purpose, and each destined to material improvement in later generations."8 Seki is considered

one of the greatest eastern mathematicians of all time. His genius was pointed out from a very

early age and he accomplished amazing things with the limiting tools he had to work with. With

Seki's help, Japan was able to invent what they called Wasan. "In terms of mathematics, it is

extremely unlikely that anyone in Japan learned about the creation of modern calculus by

Newton or Leibnitz. There is no evidence from sangoku problems and traditional Japanese

mathematics texts that suggests its practitioners understood the fundamental theorem of

calculus."9 Without these basic tools which we in the west always take for granted, the Japanese,

namely Seki, was able to develop a more complicated way of solving intricate calculus problems.

Wasan just means, Japanese Mathematics and it refers to the pathways taken by Japanese

mathematicians based on their understandings from Chinese texts. Using their own methods, the

Japanese continue to develop their own style of practicing mathematics which becomes sangaku

problems or Japanese temple geometry.

In conclusion, it is very easy to see why and where the Japanese mirror both the Western

World and Chinese developments in Mathematics and scientific thought. For the vast majority

of their history, they had nothing to work with outside of what they were told and given.
 Mathis 5

Nevertheless, the few Japanese mathematicians discussed, as well as some left out, managed to

break through the obstacles and pioneer new ideas and pathways in the ever-growing field of

Mathematics. Shigeru Nakayama puts it best, "The Japanese occupy a highly strategic vantage

point, one that potentially affords them a wide angle of vision. Progenitors of neither tradition,"

east or west," they have little cause to approach the matter with either excessive pride or the

sense of inferiority that pride often conceals. Japanese academic tradition has produced little that

is original; its influence abroad has not been significant, but the Japanese have habitually

cultivated the faculty of critical choice.10 This critical choice is primary in Japans growing

power in the modern world; indeed the power to abstractly stand by while choosing the best two

cultures have to offer is a great advantage in many aspects.

1
David Eugene Smith, A History of Japanese Mathematics, Chicago Open Court Publishing Company, 1914, pg.3.
--Secondary--
2
Smith, pg. 5, fig. 1.
3
Fukugawa Hidetoshi, Sacred Mathematics - Japanese Temple Geometry, Princeton University Press, 2008. pg. 17.
--Secondary--
4
Smith, pg 17.
5
Hidetoshi, pg 38.
6
mathmuse.sci.ibaraki.ac.jp, Japanese Mathematics Museum, 2001.
--Primary--
7
Smith, pg 60.
8
Smith, pg 92.
9
Hidetoshi, pg 5.
10
Shigeru Nakayama, Academic and Scientific Traditions in China, Japan, and the West, translated by Jerry Dusenbury,
University of Tokyo Press, 1984.
--Primary--