Nihon Odai Ichiran

is a Japanese book. It is a 17th century chronicle (history) of the reigns of the Japanese emperors before the 19th century.

A French translation of Nihon Ōdai Ichiran (Annales des empereurs du Japon) was published in 1834. It was translated by a Dutchman Isaac Titsingh ; this translation was one of very few books about Japan of the time.Ripley, George. (1871). The American Cyclopaedia: a Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge, Vol. 9, p. 547 col.1.

First book of its kind in the West
Dutch historian Isaac Titsingh brought the seven volumes of the book with him when he returned to Europe in 1797. He returned after twenty years in Asia.  Titsingh's French translation was published in 1834.Pouillon, François. (2008). Dictionnaire des orientalistes de langue française, p. 542. The Japanese originals were lost in the 19th century wars in Europe. 

This was the first major history of Japan to be published in the West. It was also the first history book by a Japanese writer to be published in Europe.

Isaac Titsingh described Nihon odai ichiran as a very difficult book.  He thought that the translation was "a most tedious task."Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822, p. 65.

In the 1950s, Ōdai-ichiran was evaluated by Japanologist John Whitney Hall who confirmed Titsingh's work is a careful translation from Japanese sources.Hall, John Whitney. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788, pp. 94-95.

Related pages
 History of Japan
 List of emperors of Japan
 Japanese era name

References

Other websites
Manuscript scans, Waseda University Library

Category:History of Japan
Category:1650s books