Sekiryūwasan and Yūzō Omata

Edo Period Sekiryū Wasan

The unique Japanese mathematics that developed during the Edo period is called wasan. Mathematics was already introduced to Japan from China during the Asuka period, but it did not flourish. Later, from the Sengoku period to the early Edo period, the need for calculations increased due to castle construction, civil engineering, land surveys, and economic development, leading to the development of wasan based on the influence of Chinese mathematical texts. The mathematician Seki Takakazu is considered the founder of wasan that developed during the Edo period. The wasan devised by Seki Takakazu became popular in the early Edo period and was called Seki-ryu wasan.

Instructor of Kanryu Wasan, Yuuzo Omata

In the Inagi area, Yuzo Omata is well-known as a leader of the Kanryu wasan during the Meiji period. Yuzo Omata was born on October 4, 1840, in Yanokuchi Village. He began studying arithmetic at a young age, but feeling the limits of self-study, he went to Tokyo in 1877 to study under Riken Fukuda, who ran a wasan school called Juntendo Kyugai-sha, to learn Kanryu wasan. Around the time of this study in Tokyo, he began teaching wasan in Yanokuchi Village, and it is said that he had many disciples from near and far. Additionally, his disciples dedicated wasan plaques at Anazawa Tenjin Shrine (Yanokuchi, Inagi City) and Okunitama Shrine (Fuchu City). In 1855, he published 'Suirizukai'. The achievements of Yuzo Omata can be understood through the 'Omata Kunju Monument', a memorial erected by his disciples in July 1897 in the precincts of Anazawa Tenjin Shrine.