Mori Ogai

Mori Ōgai (森 鷗外 / 森 鴎外, February 17, 1862 – July 8, 1922) was a Japanese physician, translator, novelist and poet. Gan (雁, The Wild Geese(1911–13)) is considered his major work. Mori was born as Mori Rintarō in Tsuwano, Iwami province (present-day Shimane prefecture). His family were hereditary physicians to the daimyō of the Tsuwano Domain. As the eldest son, it was assumed that he would carry on the family tradition; therefore he was sent to at... more

Mori Ōgai (森 鷗外 / 森 鴎外, February 17, 1862 – July 8, 1922) was a Japanese physician, translator, novelist and poet. Gan (雁, The Wild Geese(1911–13)) is considered his major work. Mori was born as Mori Rintarō in Tsuwano, Iwami province (present-day Shimane prefecture). His family were hereditary physicians to the daimyō of the Tsuwano Domain. As the eldest son, it was assumed that he would carry on the family tradition; therefore he was sent to attend classes in the Confucian classics at the domain academy, and took private lessons in rangaku, and in the Dutch language. In 1872, after the Meiji Restoration and the abolition of the domains, the Mori family relocated to Tokyo. Mori stayed at the residence of Nishi Amane, in order to receive tutoring in the German language, which was the primary language for medical education at the time. In 1874, he was admitted to the government medical school (the predecessor for Tokyo Imperial University's Medical School), and graduated in 1881 at the... less