Kaempfer (1651-1716) was a German physician in the service of the Dutch East India Company. He lived in Nagasaki between September 1690 and October 1692. He twice accompanied the chief of the factory at Deshima on his embassy to Tokyo (Edo). While in Nagasaki he conducted an intense study of Japanese history, geography, customs, and flora. Leaving Japan in November 1692 he arrived in Amsterdam in October of 1693. This map was prepared by Johann Caspar Scheuchzer from the maps brought back from Japan by Engelbert Kaempfer, and was published in a Dutch edition of Kaempfer's "History of Japan."

This map depicts the route from Nagasaki to Tokyo, which was undertaken annually by Dutch traders. It covers the route from Kurishima to Osaka, from Yokkaichi through Nagoya and on to Hamamatsu, from Hamamatsu through Shizuoka and on to Numazu, and from Numazu through Odawara to Tokyo. After the Dutch trading post was transferred to the island of Dejima in Nagasaki harbor, the yearly journey to court was the only opportunity for foreigners to travel in Japan - only along this specific route and under strict surveillance.

References: Walter #104 C, E, F & G.

Condition: A

A nice impression and attractive color with a couple of small worm tracks in unengraved areas of the last two maps that have all been professionally infilled. The map of the route to Tokyo is on watermarked paper.