native_name_lang death_date other_names image_size native_name birth_date alt image article_title education name occupation
ja january 24 , 1780 kyūkei 天竺浪人 and fukuchi kigai 福内鬼外 鳩渓 , fūrai sanjin 風来山人 , tenjiku rōnin 250 平賀 源内 1728 hiraga gennai hiragagennai.png hiraga gennai
 student of rangaku hiraga gennai physician , author , painter and inventor
hiraga gennai

born into a low-ranking samurai family , his father was shiraishi mozaemon -lrb- yoshifusa -rrb- , his mother was from the yamashita clan , and he had many siblings .
his real name was , but he also went by the pen names , -lrb- his principal literary pen name -rrb- , and .
he is most well known by the name `` gennai '' , however .
he first studied medicinal herbs in osaka , with toda kyokuzan , before moving to edo in 1757 .
there , he studied with tamura ransui , and wrote a number of books , some on scientific or nature topics , some satirical novels , in the kokkeibon and dangibon genres .
in his scientific experiments , he prospected for various ores , wove asbestos , calculated temperatures , and worked with static electricity .
gennai also studied western painting and ceramics techniques , and produced a number of works in that vein .
interested in ores , he tried unsuccessfully a number of times to have new mines opened .
on one occasion , frustrated and enraged at the repeated lack of support from the citizens of the area , he killed one of his disciples in a fit of rage .
arrested and sent to prison , he died there in 1779 .
