ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Russian explorer Vasily Golovnin’s attempts at exploring Hokkaidō and the Kuril Islands and what his explorations meant for Russian and Japanese relations of the time and control of the Sea of Okhotsk area. Golovnin’s account of his long period of captivity in Ezo from 1811 until 1813 became valuable for Russian and global understanding of Japan, Hokkaidō, and the cultures and traditions of those areas, although the diplomatic debacle which ensued also impeded Russian colonial advancement in the North Pacific. Russo-Japanese relations also suffered from the effects of Golovnin’s period of captivity. Regardless, Golovnin’s written account of this extended period under captivity became an influential study of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk area which international observers would refer to for many decades to come. Up until the late nineteenth century, Golovnin’s book was the main Western account of the Sea of Okhotsk area, Japan, and Japanese culture. This chapter also analyzes Golovnin’s experiences under the theoretical implications of cross-cultural encounters in world history, including an assessment of the degree to which this was a colonial encounter.
