His Story of Japan: Engelbert Kaempfer's Manuscript in a New Translation

E 1 NGELBERT KAEMPFER'S book on Japan has a long history of publication in many languages. Born in 1651 in Lemgo in northern Germany as the son of a Lutheran vicar (pastor primarius), the author set out in 1683 from Uppsala and traveled through Russia and Persia to Batavia and, via Siam, Japan.I While the paths and purposes of this lengthy journey from west to east were determined by accidental occurrences and limited choices, in the collecting and cataloguing of all kinds of information Kaempfer outdid most contemporaneous European travelers. By the time he arrived in Nagasaki in 1690 he had accumulated an amazing array of records on many geographical regions, and was well versed in the careful observation and systematic description of cultures and societies. At Dejima he was fortunate to meet with a gifted and courageous partner, Imamura Gen'emon -:!ih ,P sent to him as a servant at the Dutch trading post. Without the assistance of Gen'emon, who was to make his name as one of the outstanding Japanese interpreters at Dejima,2 exploration of Japan within the short span of two years would have been an impossible task. Kaempfer left Japan richly supplied with books, translated excerpts, and all manner of notes, sketches, and maps. On his return to Germany, Kaempfer presented ten short observations (Disputatio medica inauguralis exhibens decadem observationum exoticarum) at Leiden University in 1694, which earned him a doctoral degree in medicine.