Early period of Russian-Japanese cultural interactions

Cultural interactions between Russians and Japanese began even before direct contacts between them at the turn of the 18th century.

Compiled from European sources, the encyclopedic work, Cosmography, or Description of the lands and great states of this world (the version of 1670 was published between 1878 and 1881), contains chapter 70 “On Iaponia, or Yapan Island” which sets out general information about the geographical position of Japan, the climate, flora and fauna, natural resources, government system, social structure, education, religious beliefs, national character, and customs and traditions. Despite the incompleteness and inaccuracy of partially outdated information, this text gave a realistic, not mythologized image of Japan. “Its significance for the study of Russian-Japanese cultural interactions … is undoubtedly great.”

The description of China made by a learned member of Posolsky Prikaz (foreign office of the Tsardom of Russia) Nikolai Spathari, who was sent on a diplomatic mission to Beijing in 1675 and returned to Moscow in early 1678, included chapter 58 “Description of the glorious and great island of Japan.” Compiled during the mission from European and Chinese sources, this work contained more complete and reliable information about Japan than in “Cosmography” and was well-read. In the second half of the 18th century a collection of translations, Description of Japan (1768), and History of the Japanese State (1773, 1778), written for the Russian reader in Latin and translated into Russian, by Johann Reichel, a German historian who taught at Moscow University, were considered to be “standard” works about Japan. Since the end of the 18th century information about Japan from European sources including works of travelers and scientists was reprinted in translation or adaptation in popular publications and reflected the interest of the Russian educated class in “exotic” countries.