Specimens from the Siebold collection donated to the University Museum of the University of Tokyo by the National Herbarium of the Netherlands

Nobushige Kato

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　Ask a Japanese person who Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866) was and in all likelihood the majority will tell you that he was the Dutch physician who came to the island of Dejima during the Edo era and communicated new western medical techniques to the Japanese. They would be right too, but what is perhaps less widely known is that Siebold's greatest interest lay in natural history.

　Born in southern Germany in the town of Würzburg, a town located on the Main River, a tributary of the Rhein, which is known as the start of the famed Romantische Strasse (the Romantic Road), Siebold studied medicine at the University of Würzourg where his deceased father had been a professor, joining the Dutch army as a doctor shortly after his graduation and arriving in Japan in July 1823.

　Siebold spent six years in Japan during this, his first visit. He was granted special permission to establish a small school at Narutaki. The Narutaki Juku was open for just five short years between 1824 and 1828, but it was long enough for Siebold to have a major impact on the Japanese pupils who came to Nagasaki to study under him. His first pupils included Mima Junzo (1794-1825) from the old province of Awa (now Tokushima Prefecture) and Oka Kenkai (1799-1839) from the old province of Nagato (now Yamaguchi Prefecture). Specimens of Akebia trifoliata collected by Mima Junzo and of Gloiopeltis capillaris Sur. collected by Oka Kenkai can be found in the Leiden branch of National Herbarium of the Netherlands (NHN).

　During his time in Japan, Siebold gathered and studied such a diversity of materials that one wonders if he had any time to sleep. His collection of artifacts included ceramics, furniture, carpenter's tools and woodblock prints (ukiyoe). He was especially interested in plants and animals and his collecting activities were not just limited to dried specimens but included live species, which he went to great lengths to ship back to the Netherlands.

　The major part of Siebold's collection is now stored in the National Herbarium of the Netherlands in the Dutch city of Leiden. Also known as the “Museum City”, Leiden is home to numerous science, art and botanical museums, and Siebold's specimens are stored variously, according to type, in the National Herbarium, the National Museum for Natural History, and the National Museum of Ethnology.

　Five years ago, in 2000, a host of events was held in cities and towns throughout Japan and the Netherlands in celebration of 400 years of shared history.

　The donation to Tokyo University Museum by the Leiden University branch of the National Herbarium of the Netherlands of scores of specimens from the Siebold Collection was part of this joint celebration of the 400^th anniversary of the relationship between the two countries.

　In a bid to increase general awareness of the specimens donated by NHN, the University of Tokyo held a public exhibition at the University Museum between September 26 and October 26, 2000, and then, between October 4 and December 7, 2003, the University Museum, the University of Tokyo and NHN co-sponsored an exhibition entitled, “Siebold in the 21^st Century” in an effort to gain wide-spread recognition of Siebold's activities in Japan.

　On display were 430 specimens donated to the Tokyo University Museum by NHN together with collections of specimens preserved in spirits, seed and fruit specimens, and xylem specimens, all of which are stored at NHN.

　The number of specimens donated by NHN varies depending on whether or not duplications are included, but in total, NHN sent more than 450 items in a series of shipments, including 74 specimens bearing the “HERBARIUM Dr. J. K. HASSKARL” stamp owned by Dr. Hasskarl, as well as 28 specimens owned by the University of Groningen.

　Although the collection is widely referred to as the Siebold Collection it includes specimens that were gathered by a number of individuals in addition to those collected by Siebold himself. It is not known who gathered three hundred and thirty-six of the NHN donated specimens, i.e. the majority, however, short introductions are given to acknowledged individual collectors in the following paragraphs.

Specimens collected by P. F. von Siebold (1797-1866)

　Of the specimens collected by Siebold alone, several thousand are stored at the NHN. Siebold was an ardent collector, taking every opportunity to gather specimens, especially during his journey to Edo (the present Tokyo).

　The following 25 Siebold specimens were donated to Tokyo University Museum by NHN.

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