History of Japanese Mathematics

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1. The Taisei Sankei written by Seki Takakazu and his pupils Takebe Katahiro and Takebe Kataakira is one of the greatest books in late 17the century. It consist of 20 volumes. In this research we investigated the volume 2 in collaboration with Dr Mitsuo Morimoto and translated it into modern English. It will be published in the journal SCIAMVS after correcting some errors.2. The translation requires basic knowledge of abacus because the volume 2 corrects many methods for calculation using abacus. We wrote, therefore, an article "Elementary Soroban Arithmetic Techniques in Edo Period Japan" for foreign scholars and teachers. It was accepted by the online journal Convergence of Mathematical Association of America (MAA).3. We were planning dedication sangaku to a shrine in Tokyo, but abandoned our work because Dr Rosalie Hosking had to go back home earlier than planned due to take care of a family. The purpose is to promote and increase awareness internationally and nationally of the Japanese Edo Period mathematical tradition (wasan). The custom of donating sangaku in Edo period is a rare phenomenon found only in Japan. By watching new sangaku, even Japanese people who hardly understand cultural or historical significance of sangaku will recognize that their ancestor had a keen interest in mathematics. Separately from that, she created a new sangaku mathematical tablet including problems by foreign historians on mathematics. It was dedicated to the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in Kyoto. The sangaku we planned would be similar to it.