Online Lecture: The History of Anesthesia and Hanaoka Seishū
November 10 @ 6:00 am – 8:00 pm
Join Hiromi Inagaki, Curator at the Naito Museum of Pharmaceutical Science and Industry, for history of anesthesia!
Lecture: The History of Anesthesia and Hanoaka Seishū
Tuesday, November 10
6:00-8:00 pm CST
ONLINE LECTURE
Before modern anesthesia transformed surgery, physicians across different cultures sought ways to relieve pain and make surgical procedures possible. In early nineteenth-century Japan, surgeon Hanaoka Seishū developed a herbal anesthetic and successfully performed breast cancer surgery under general anesthesia in 1804.
Drawing on historical research and collections from the Naito Museum of Pharmaceutical Science and Industry in Japan, this lecture explores the history of anesthesia, the development of surgical practices, and Seishū’s pioneering contributions to medicine. The program will also introduce the Naito Museum and its collections documenting the history of medicine and pharmacy in Japan.
About Hiromi Inagaki:
Hiromi Inagaki is a Curator at the Naito Museum of Pharmaceutical Science and Industry in Japan, where she has worked since 1988. She specializes in the history of Japanese medicine and pharmacy, particularly historical artifacts and rare books. She has curated numerous exhibitions, including The History of Anesthetics and Hanaoka Seishū (2020), and is actively involved in museum education and public outreach. She received the Japanese Society for the History of Pharmacy’s Special Award in 2025 and currently serves as a Council Member of the Society (2026–2028).
This program is made possible through a grant from the Japan Foundation, New York.