Is MaoMao a Doctor or a Chemist ?

LampWork said:
Personally I think she is both a Doctors + chemist and also a great detective

AshTheChamp said:
Neither. Do you know what an apothecary is?

leonardobarba said:
Maomao is an apothecary.

apothecary
noun

a person who in the past made and sold medicines

Nowadays, she would be a pharmacist

OtakuKun1 said:
Maomao is a pharmacist, but she has knowledge of medicine and chemistry as well. His father was also a pharmacist.

Why do you think this series is called “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto - Apothecary Diaries?” Because apothecary = pharmacist

FutoiOtaku said:
I think the term chemist isn’t applicable because the science of chemistry based on atomic structure and valency bonds etc was as yet undiscovered. Likewise pharmacist. And even in modern times, chemists/ pharmacists sell licensed medicines etc made by pharmaceutical companies. The term apothecary was chosen here to convey the craft of actually creating the medicines from basic ingredients as was done at the time.
On a side note, the show being called kusuriya no hitorigoto in Japanese is a bit odd as kusuriya is a shop selling medicines, whereas the seller is a kusuriyasan. But a better Japanese speaker than me can probably explain why they used that wording? I’m still pretty novice level.

DigiCat said:






Apothecary = Pharmacist = Chemist

All 3 words mean the same thing (with the last one having 2 different meanings)

FutoiOtaku said:
@certifiedbinger you definitely make a lot of sense now I’ve had a sleep and you made me think more. The way Jinshi calls her kusuriya without the honorific is basically rude, the same as the cheeky kids in Non Non Biyori call Kaede ‘dagashiya’ without the honorific to annoy her. She often gets angry and insists they use san. Only friends and family can drop the honorific without being disrespectful. As I said tho, the ya suffix means shop selling the thing it’s attached to, but there may be a wrinkle where it also means vendor that I would like a Japanese speaker to comment on.
Also you wouldn’t call a doctor san, always sensei out of respect for the time they spent training. And typically not eishya san, that’s double redundant, just (name) sensei or sometimes (name) eishya.