Background
Rinzo Mamiya was born in 1780. His personal name was Rinso. He son of a cooper named Shobe and also known as Kmso.
Rinzo Mamiya was born in 1780. His personal name was Rinso. He son of a cooper named Shobe and also known as Kmso.
Rinzo Mamiya showed remarkable talent for mathematics while yet a child and began studying geography and astronomy all by himself. His talents were recognized by a shogunate official named Shimojo Yoshinosuke, and arrangements were made for him to be educated in Edo.
In 1796 Rinzo Mamiya became a fushin-yaku-yatoi, or construction worker in the service of the shogunate, advancing to a slightly higher post in 1799. In 1800 he was sent as a goyo-yatoi, or employee of the shogunate in the Ezochi or Hokkaido region, to explore the Chishima (Kurile) Islands. While on this assignment, Rinzo Mamiya met the surveyor Ino Tadataka and learned surveying techniques from him. In 1803 he carried out a land survey in western Ezo. In 1808, after having been promoted to the level offushin-yaku-kaku, he was dispatched along with Matsuda Denjuro to explore Karafuto (Sakhalin).