ABSTRACT
During the five years in which he came and went from Japan, Isaac Titsingh conceived in his mind a monumental project. He was already leading an exemplary career in the Dutch East India Company (known by its acronym as the VOC), and would later rise to its summit; but this project was to be his real life’s work. The idea that had generated in Japan continued to be his obsession ever after, as he thought about it, collected data for it, translated and wrote for it, for the remainder of his days. Titsingh had decided to do nothing less than compile a compendium to lay before the reader all there was to know about the shogun’s realm. Such a work was, he felt, crucial, given the importance of the Japanese states, the industriousness and creativity of their people, the widespread European and American sense that this was a country that ought to be known about, and, on the other hand, the paucity of material fit to give proper understanding. Titsingh would provide the key to all Japan.
