The Measurement of Japanese Westernization in the Materials of Early Modern Japan from Dutch Sources

1989 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 63400010
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: 広領域
• Research Institution: Nagasaki University
• Principal Investigator: WAKAKI Taiichi NAGASAKI UNIVERSITY, Liberal Arts, Professor, 教養部, 教授 (40071998)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): NAGAMATU Minoru NAGASAKI Municipal Library, Cultivator, 学芸員 ; YASUDA Katsuhiro NAGASAKI UNIVERSITY, Faculty of Dentistry, Professor, 歯学部, 教授 (50013884) ; KANESIGE Mamoru NAGASAKI UNIVERSITY, The School of Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (40039433) ; OKABAYASI Takatosi NAGASAKI UNIVERSITY, Faculty of Technology, Assistant Professor, 工学部, 助教授 (90039686) ; SAKUMA Tadasi NAGASAKI UNIVERSITY, Liberal Arts, Assistant Professor, 教養部, 助教授 (80128181)
• Project Period (FY): 1988 – 1989
• Keywords: STUDY OF THE DUTCH LANGUAGE / STUDY OF THE WESTERN CULTURE / TRANSLATOR / TRANSLATION / CONVERSATION / INTERPRETATION / MEDICINE / NATURAL HISTORY

Research Abstract

The purpose of this project is the assessment of western influences to Japanese culture in Edo Period. For this we endeavored to collect a lot of Dutch influenced materials and to examine them. We succeeded in collecting the materials as below, 1) trade data, letters, diaries, the reports of European events(FUSETSUGAKI) 2) natural scientific materials in many field such as astronomy, mathematics, physics, biology, medicine,dentistry, chemistry, architecture and engineering. 3) social and artistic materials such as thoughts, language, pictures, manners and customs.
(1)1988-1989 We visited various libraries and museums in Japan. We collected many data and literature which connected with Japanese-Dutch relationship.
(2)1989-1990 We continued to search the materials and succeeded in collecting the materials not only from Japanese libraries and museums but also from foreign libraries. Besides,we labeled then and made a simple list. Some items in special fields have been analyzed.
Report of this project mentions about the results of our researches and estimates the influences of Japanese Westernization briefly. Each member of our project is continuing the analysis of materials on their special fields. The fully report will be published in future.