198 YoSHIO MlKAMl 



its last days without undergoing any considerable transformation from 

 without. 



21. The development of the so-called Japanese mathematics was 

 restricted to the duration o/ the Tokugawa Shogunate. After the 

 Restoration of 1868, European mathematics being adopted for school 

 classes, the adherents of the Wasan at first contended strenuously with 

 the newly rising Europeanised mathematicians. They withered one by 

 one, however, and there appeared no new partisans ; thus the way was 

 clear for the progress of the Western science. The adoi)tion of the new 

 mathematics was by no means because of its intrinsic superiority over 

 the Wasan, but because of its value as a basis for the study of the 

 physical and technical sciences of the West. The lack of knowledge of 

 these sciences had been strongly felt by the Japanese, because it was just 

 this defect that had left Japan too feeble to contend with the Western 

 powers. Original studies subsided for a time after the adoption of the 

 Western system of mathematics. But some twenty years after the 

 Restoration, certain researches were undertaken after the mode of the 

 new science, and further progress has been made, ultimately leading 

 us to the present state of affairs. 



22. Of historical studies on the old Japanese mathematics, mention 

 must be made first of T. Endo's History of Japanese Mathematics 

 (in Japanese) (1896) and the revised and enlarged edition of 1918. 

 After Endo's work appeared the studies of D. Kikuchi, T. Hayashi, 

 Y. Mikami, K. Yanagihara and others, in whose hands details as well 

 as general and historical views were given. Besides these, there are 

 C. Kawakita, N. Okamoto, K. Kano, J. Kawai and others who are deeply 

 versed in the subject but whose works have, for the most part, not been 

 published. 



The Chinese have published a number of studies based on European 

 and American histories of mathematics. The Chinese Li Yen ^fj^ has 

 l)ublished a number of historical articles and his works aie well known. 

 Besides Mr. Li, there are also otliers who occasionally bring out their 

 writings on the subject, and the historical studies of the Chinese are 

 gradually advancing. 



