Unit 13. European Literary Sources
About Japan
Frederik CRYNS, International Research Center for Japanese Studies

What are European Literary Sources AboutJapan?
European literary sources about Japan, known as gaisho 外書, are books about Japan written in a
Western language and published between 1540 (when the first Portuguese arrived in Japan) and
1900. Researchers divide such texts into two broad categories: primary and secondary sources.
1. Primary sources: Sources recording Westerners’ first‐hand accounts of Japan(what they observed, what they experienced)
Most primary sources are manuscripts (some printed books count as primary sources).
2. Secondary sources: Westerner‐authored sources about Japan based on someother historical sources
Most secondary sources are printed books.
3. Grey‐zone sources: Somewhere between a primary and secondary source

Source criticism: When determining how reliable the source is, the most important task is toclassify the source as either primary or secondary based on its historicity.
In Edo-era Japan, source criticism would have been known as kōshōgaku 考証学. Nowadays, itis known as shiryō hihan 史料批判.

In the case of gaisho, source criticism requires three skills:
1. External criticism
2. Internal criticism
3. Deciphering the source

The Value of European Literary Sources
about Japan
They augment Japanese sources
Among the historical sources on Japanese foreign/diplomatic relations, extant Western sources
vastly outnumber extant Japanese ones.
There is a particular dearth of Japanese sources for Japanese foreign/diplomatic
relations from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Those Japanese sources that do exist comprise just formal statements in most cases.
In comparison, Western sources include detailed first-hand accounts (missives,diaries) written by Jesuits, Dutchmen, and Englishmen.
These sources can fill the gaps among Japanese literature and provide freshinformation.

They offer a third-party perspective
Westerners’ accounts include perspectives that differ markedly from those of the Japanese at thetime.
Western and Japanese authors differed in terms of what they considered important to record andwhat to leave out.

They situate Japan in a global context

Western historical sources always situate events in Japan in the context of Asia or international
trends at the time.
You can broaden your perspective by referring to Western sources.
Modern-day Western historians of Japan, likewise, tend to situate Japanese history
within the history of Asia or world history.

Applying Source Criticism to Gaisho:
Purpose and Method
Source criticism: Purpose
When using historical sources to tackle a problem in history, you must ascertain the reliability ofthese sources.
Only some past records remain extant.
Those that do remain might not give an accurate, objective picture of historicalrealities. They may include the author’s beliefs and subjective perspectives.

Source criticism: Method
Source criticism is generally divided into external and internal criticism.
1. External criticism: Analyse the external properties of the source to determine
whether it is genuine and when, where, and by whom it was written.
2. Internal criticism: Determine whether the contents of the source are reliable.

External Criticism
External criticism is a method in which you analyse the external properties of the source todetermine whether it is the genuine article, and when, where, and by whom it was written.
1. The following external elements are used to authenticate and date the source:Paper quality, bookbinding format, and typographical, lexical, and grammatical elements
2. The following elements are used to determine when, where, and by whom thesource was written:
Information included on the title page and in the opening and closing sections
Information about the holder/owner, the provenance of the book, and its history
Information gleaned by collating the source with other sources from the time.
Printed books: The title page usually displays bibliographic information—theauthor, publication location, publisher, and year published.
Manuscripts: You have to search for the bibliographic information (author, time
when manuscript was produced) in the main text.
In the case of correspondence, the sender and date are usually found at the end ofthe manuscript. The recipient is usually stated at the start or on the reverse side ofthe page.

Internal Criticism
Internal criticism is a method where you check whether the content of the source is reliable.
Internal criticism involves the following basic questions:

1. For what purpose was the source produced? (Who was the intended audience?)
2. Does this purpose accord with the research question?
3. Does the author of the source have any bias or interest in the subject matter?
4. Is the content of the source consistent with contemporaneous primary sources?
5. Is the content internally consistent?

Interpreting and Dating Sources
Identify lexical features
Languages constantly evolve.

Definitions and usages change over time.
When reading gaisho, you must always be aware of the context of the period.
If in doubt, do not hesitate to consult a dictionary.
English: The Oxford English Dictionary
Dutch: Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal (WNT), Historische woordenboeken

Identify the date of the source
Determining the date is an important task in history, and it requires accuracy. During the 16thand 17th centuries, multiple calendars were used by the Japanese and Westerners.
Japan: Wareki
West: Gregorian calendar, Julian calendar
Conversion: Use online calendar conversion tools or tables for cross-referencing wareki andseireki (Western calendar).
Caution: It is a mistake to convert only the nengō without converting the month andday.
Particular care is required for dates that straddle years.
Note that some sources use a wareki-seireki hybrid.