Famous Math Probs14: Japanese Temple Problems I

Sangaku are Japanese geometry problems which were posted on temple walls in the Edo period. They are often strikingly original to the Western view, with lovely constructions and challenges involving triangles, circles and ellipses. Here we look at one in particular, posed by 13 year old Sato Naosue in 1847, which is not too hard but yields some surprises. Of particular interest is that we look at the problem both from a classical point of view, and also a Rational Trigonometry point of view. The first is p