Manase Dōsan


Manase Dōsan was a Japanese physician.
Dōsan was born in Kyoto and initially trained to become a monk. However, in his early twenties he began studying medicine under Tashiro Sanki. He enrolled at the Ashikaga School of Medicine, and continued his studies for 17 years.
He published a medical textbook, the Keitekishu, in 1571, and worked as a doctor for many daimyō of the time. He was employed by the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiteru and treated the Emperor Ōgimachi. The daimyō Dōsan treated included Mōri Motonari, whom Dōsan attended in 1566 during his siege of Toda Castle. When Monotari visited him the following year, Dōsan presented him with nine rules for health, known as the Kyuki. These were:
That same year, he also visited Matsunaga Hisahide, where he lectured on Chinese texts on sex and the nurturing of life.
Dōsan taught over 3,000 students in what became known as Dōsan-ryu or the Dōsan School. He and his heirs were instrumental in the spread of the Goseihō school of medical thought in Japan, which stemmed from Chinese systems of medicine.