[From Dokushoan Nagatomi to Genshun Koishi]

In the middle part of the Edo period (around the later half of the 18th Century), several new-ideated physicians did appear. Among them, Dokushoan Nagatomi and Genshun Koishi were eager to learn western style autopsy. The former got the knowledge from imported Dutch books with the aid of interpreters at Nagasaki and the latter, upon influence of the former, eventually performed on autopsy by himself, aiming at understanding relationships between organ changes and the nature of the diseases of the patients. This article describes an outline of the story of two physicians as pioneers of anatomy and pathological anatomy in this country.