OTSUKI, Gentaku.

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Kankai ibun ("Strange Tales of a Circumnavigation"). Volume 14. A manuscript copy of part of this famous text, recounting the travels of four Japanese sailors shipwrecked in Russia and their return to Japan aboard Krusenstern's voyage. This volume records the arrival of the fleet in Nagasaki, with vivid maps, illustrations of Russian ships and sailors, and images of flags.In late 1793, the vessel Wakamiya-maru set sail for Edo, but storms drove it off course to the Aleutian Islands. After months, the crew were discovered and taken to Russia, where they remained for the next decade. In 1803, Tsar Alexander I asked the 10 surviving crewmen whether they wished to return to Japan aboard Krusenstern and Rezanov's famous circumnavigation. Four agreed – Tsudayu, Gihee, Sahei, and Tajuro – joined by a fifth, Zenroku, who served as Rezanov's interpreter. They arrived in Nagasaki in 1804, being the first Japanese people to travel around the world. They were then interrogated by Otsuki Gentaku, a scholar fluent in Dutch and interested in the outside world. His write-up of the interviews, Kankai ibun, became popular and was circulated in manuscript in 16 volumes from 1807.Volume 14 opens on 6 November 1804 and recalls the arrival in Nagasaki. The names of the four Japanese sailors are written on folios 7v and 8r. The illustrations include a map of the approach to Nagasaki Bay, the various flags flown by the Russian ships, and multiple diagrams of Russian sailors and their uniforms.Proven

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