Chapter · Japan · History
Two centuries through a six-hundred-foot door
What Westerners wrote about Japan, and what it says about them
For two hundred and twelve years, a European who wanted to see Japan had to live on an artificial island in front of Nagasaki, and left it once a year. Then four American ships came in by the bay of Edo, deliberately. This path reads both moments in the words of the men who lived them, and watches what those words say about their authors.
Context first
A lesson to read before the others, to set the scene.
- The place
- The era
- The people
The lessons in this chapter
- 1What the Company agreed to payTo keep a trade with no competitor, the Dutch merchants agreed to stop praying, stop singing and stop making the sign of the cross. It is their own physician who draws up the list.9 min
- 2The man who refused NagasakiThe American squadron of 1853 did not go to the port provided for foreigners. It refused Nagasaki, declared any further request offensive, and the Japanese commissioners put its conditions in writing.10 min
- 3A hundred gallons of whiskey and a locomotive too smallEach side offered what it held admirable: a miniature locomotive and a hundred gallons of whiskey on one side, sacks of rice and four dogs on the other. The American account calls the wrestlers disgusting, then parades its marines.10 min
How these lessons are written
Each lesson starts from first-hand sources: Wikisource, Gallica, Persée, archives, museums and institutes. A fact without a source does not get written, and every lesson lists its own as direct links.
The rhythm
A lesson is five minutes of cards and four questions. Those questions then come back the next day, then at 3, 7, 21 and 60 days, and that return is what makes it stick. One a day is enough, and you can do several in a row.