Shibukawa Kagesuke

Background

Second son of Sakuzaemon Takahashi, he was born in Osaka, 1787, and was adopted by the Shibukawas, the family of astronomers serving the Shogunate.

Career

He was appointed a Shogunate astronomer (1812). Studied the Western calendar. He and his elder brother, Kageyasu, completed Shinko Relcisho in 40 volumes and Shinshu Gosei-ho in 10 volumes (1836). The books, based on a translation of astronomical books by Joseph Jerome de Lalande, French astronomer, which was left unfinished by his father, were dedicated to the Shogunate.

He revised the calendar (1842) and wrote Kansei Rekisho, a book on the calendar in 35 volumes, and its appendix in five volumes (1844). He conducted astronomical observations at an observatory he built on Kudan Hill in Edo. Wrote other books on astronomy and calendar science. Surveyed latitudes and longitudes in northern Japan including Hokkaido and made maps of the area.

Works

• book

  • Kansei Rekisho

    1844

Connections

Brother:

Kageyasu