https://aneeshsathe.com/tags/carcinization/Recent content in Carcinization on Aneesh SatheHugoen-usFri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://aneeshsathe.com/the-octotypic-mind/Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://aneeshsathe.com/the-octotypic-mind/<h2 id="the-scholars-of-dejima"> The Scholars of Dejima <a href="#the-scholars-of-dejima" class="heading-anchor">#</a> </h2> <p>In the 1770s, a samurai, a physician, and a Confucian scholar gathered around a Dutch anatomy textbook none of them could properly read. They were attempting a translation of the <em>Tabulae Anatomicae</em>. Sugita Genpaku and his collaborators, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangaku">rangaku-sha</a>, &ldquo;Dutch studies scholars&rdquo; of Tokugawa Japan. The shogunate had sealed the country for over a century. European knowledge trickled in through one pinhole: the Dutch trading post on Dejima, a fan-shaped artificial island in Nagasaki harbor.</p>