Why read Kaempfer's Japan?

Book cover of Kaempfer's Japan: Tokugawa Culture Observed

Book description

Engelbert Kaempfer's work was a best-seller from the moment it was published in London in 1727 and remains one of the most valuable sources for historians of the Tokugawa period. The narrative describes what no Japanese was permitted to record (the details of the shogun's castle, for example) and what…

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Asian history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Kaempfer's Japan as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Constantine Nomikos Vaporis

Author

This book first excited my interest in the Tokugawa period and directly led to my first two academic books on the subject. Kaempfer’s History of Japan was a best-seller from the date of its publication in London in 1727. The author was a German doctor in the employ of the Dutch East India Company, who were the only Europeans the Tokugawa rulers would allow into Japan until 1853. He was able to make two trips to the capital of Edo, likely the largest city in the world at the time, and thus was able to observe Tokugawa society broadly.

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From Constantine's list on Tokugawa Japan.