Academic inheritance(5)

Kaempfer: The Man who Introduced Japan to the West

Engelbert Kaempfer stayed in Dejima for two years as a doctor at the Dutch trading post beginning in 1690 and energetically gathered material with the cooperation of Dutch-Japanese interpreter Imamura Genemon. After returning to Holland, he wrote “History of Japan,” a book in which he summarized his observations in the country. The book was published in London after his death, translated into French and Dutch and became connected to Japonism in Europe in the 19th century.
The book had a big effect on Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold, who went to Japan 140 years after Kaempfer and honored him as a pioneer in the country in his own book.

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Monument to Kaempfer and Thunberg

Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold, who came to Japan as the doctor for the Dejima Dutch Trading Post, erected a monument in the Dejima flower garden in 1826 to praise the achievements of his predecessors in coming to Japan, trading post doctors Engelbert Kaempfer and Carl Peter Thunberg.
The monument is engraved in Latin with the following: “Kaempfer, Thunberg, look! Your plants grow green and flower here every year. I, the planter, Dr. Von Siebold, offer you a flower wreath of love.”

Location: Site of the Dejima Dutch Trading Post, 6 Dejima-machi, Nagasaki-shi, Nagasaki
PH: 095-829-1193 (Nagasaki City Cultural Asset Division, Culture and Tourism Department)
Website: Nagasaki City
http://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp.e.jc.hp.transer.com/shimin/190001/192001/p000546.html
Closed: Open year-round
Admission: 510 yen (general), 200 yen (high school), 100 yen (elementary/junior high)
Transportation: 1 min walk from “Dejima” tram stop
5 min walk from “Nagasaki Shinchi Terminal” bus stop
Approx. 5 min from Kyushu Odan Expressway Nagasaki-Oita Line Nagasaki Interchange
Parking: Unavailable