Kaempfer, Engelbert

Japanese: ケンペル - Ｋａｅｍｐｆｅｒ，Ｅｎｇｅｌｂｅｒｔ

Year of death: 1716.11.2 (1716.11.2)
Born: September 16, 1651
A German traveler and naturalist who came to Japan in the early Edo period. Born in Lemgo as the son of a pastor, he studied natural history and medicine in Cracow, Königsberg, and Uppsala. He joined a Swedish mission and traveled to Russia and Persia, but rather than returning to Uppsala and finding a stable position, he chose to travel, "driven by the disease of curiosity," and was employed by the Dutch East India Company. He passed through Batavia and Siam, and arrived in Japan in the autumn of 1690 (Genroku 3) as a doctor attached to the Dejima trading post in Nagasaki. During his stay in Japan, he used his assistants to energetically study Japan and collect materials, and left in 1690. Two years later, he received a doctor's degree from Leiden University on his research into wormwood, and returned to his hometown of Lemgo to get married. He did not enjoy a happy private life, and only published the Latin book "Travels in Wonders" during his lifetime, and it was not until 1727 that an English translation of his posthumous writings on Japan was published. "Japan History" is a groundbreaking work that comprehensively describes Japanese society, politics, religion, flora and fauna with a flexible eye, including his own sketches. For example, he satirically points out how effective "bribes" are as a lubricant in negotiations with the Japanese. It was translated into French and Dutch, and then published in the original German, and had a decisive influence on the European view of Japan thereafter. Many philosophers and literary figures, including Voltaire and Kant, read this book. Shizuki Tadao's "On National Isolation" was a translation (1801) of the appendix to the book. Kaempfer's travel writings on his two visits to Edo are also excellent, with keen observations of the nature and customs of each region, and an objective and humorous description of the Japanese people and Japanese society. His Japanese collection later formed the basis for the founding of the British Museum. <References> "Japan History" by Kaempfer, Volumes 1 and 2, translated by Imai Tadashi; "The Idea of National Isolation" by Kobori Keiichiro; "Tokugawa Japan as Kaempfer Sees It" edited by Josef Kleiner

(Torii Yumiko)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：1716.11.2(1716.11.2)
生年：1651.9.16
江戸前期に来日したドイツ人旅行家,博物学者。レムゴーに牧師の子として生まれ,クラカウ,ケーニヒスベルク,ウプサラで博物学,医学などを修める。スウェーデン使節団に加わり,ロシア,ペルシャ各地を回ったが,ウプサラに戻って安定した地位を得るよりも「好奇心という病に突き動かされて」旅をする道を選び,オランダ東インド会社に就職。バタビア,シャムを経て元禄3(1690)年秋,長崎出島商館付医師として日本に到着した。滞日中は助手を使って精力的に日本研究,資料収集に励み,同5年に離日。翌々年モグサの研究などでライデン大学から学位を受け,故郷レムゴーに戻って結婚した。私生活には恵まれず,生前はラテン語の『廻国奇観』を刊行したのみで,日本関係の遺稿は1727年に至って英訳本がまず刊行された。この『日本誌』は日本の社会,政治,宗教,動植物などを,自身のスケッチも交えて柔軟な眼で総合的に記述した画期的な著作で,例えば日本人との交渉の潤滑油として「袖の下」がいかに有効かといったことも,皮肉っぽく指摘している。仏訳,蘭訳次いでドイツ語原本も刊行され,その後のヨーロッパの日本観に決定的な影響をおよぼした。ヴォルテール,カントら同書を読んだ哲学者,文学者は数多い。志筑忠雄の『鎖国論』は,同書付録を訳出(1801)したもの。ケンペルが2度経験した江戸参府の紀行文も,各地の自然,風俗を鋭く観察し,日本人,日本社会を客観的かつユーモアたっぷりに描写して秀逸である。その日本コレクションは,のちに大英博物館創設時の基礎を成した。<参考文献>今井正訳『ケンペル日本誌』上下,小堀桂一郎『鎖国の思想』,ヨーゼフ・クライナー編『ケンペルのみたトクガワ・ジャパン』

(鳥井裕美子)

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