The Russian Discovery of Japan, 1670–1800 by David N. Wells (review)

David Wells's The Russian Discovery of Japan, 1670–1800 is a carefully tailored collection of twelve important early sources on Japan that became available in Russia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The book complements Wells's earlier work, Russian Views of Japan, 1792–1913, which brought together important records by Russians who visited Japan during, roughly, the century that followed.¹ The key texts in the book under review have been translated into English and collected for the first time; that, together with the relative scarcity of studies on the beginning of Russian-Japanese bilateral relations in English and other Western languages, makes the volume a greatly appreciated addition to the field.

The book opens with Wells's concise account of the history of early Russian-Japanese contact as revealed through a broad range of sources in Russian, English, Japanese, French, Dutch, Hungarian, and German. This introductory chapter facilitates the understanding of the texts that comprise the main part of the book. Wells carefully examines the biography of each explorer, briefly comments on the contents of the translated texts, and dedicates several pages to the history of the teaching of the Japanese language in Russia until the mid-nineteenth century. He rightly sees the epoch of early contact between Russian explorers and the Japanese as one of "gradual accumulation of information" about Japan and "the construction of images of Japan and the Japanese" (p. 1). These first encounters served as a prelude for the more intensive exchange and establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in the nineteenth century. The texts in the collection, then, help "to show the gradual development of awareness of Japan" (p. 1) in Russia.

Wells's historical account describes all the main actors involved in collecting information on Russia's eastern neighbor—emperors and statesmen, scholars and Cossack commanders, ship captains and castaways. The explorers and merchants paved the way to the shores of unknown seas and the country that lay beyond. Some, like Christopher Columbus, had to convince their sovereigns to sponsor their long trips to unseen lands. Others were dispatched by monarchs with specific missions and a duty to report what they had seen and found. Behind each text in the collection lies a story that reflects not only its author's achievements in terms of discovering new lands and oceans, but also his relations with his superiors and state offices. Despite their conciseness, all twelve are rich in detail and interpretation, and analyzing them brings great rewards.

Wells traces the impact of these early sources on the development of knowledge on Japan not only in Russia, but more widely in Europe as well. He also introduces the broader context, showing that almost all the explorers who produced these records on Japan were part of a greater project to expand the empire to the shores of the Pacific, involve native peoples in the growth of trade, and engage in exchange with all surrounding countries. Fur was what attracted Siberians in the first place. The main goal of the imperial governments was to chart the whole of the vast new territories east of the Urals and identify their abundant natural resources. In that respect it should be noted that initially Japan, though important, was not the chief target of their activities.

The first text is "Cosmography of 1670," whose core content was drawn from Gerhard Mercator's Cosmographic Atlas supplemented by fragmentary information from multiple sources. "Cosmography" helped situate Japan in its mostly uncharted part of the world in relation to China and the Spanish colonial possessions while also commenting on its rice production, nature, political system, and relations with foreigners. The authors of the eleven other texts are a motley group, which makes their contributions all the more valuable and entertaining. Each offers information on Japan based on his own knowledge, expertise, and personal background.

Nicolae Gavrilovich Milescu (1636–1708), also known by his court rank as Spafarii, was a highly educated...