The Deshima Diaries 1641-1660: The Dagregisters Kept by the Chiefs of the Dutch East India Company Factory in Nagasaki, Japan.

The present volume of The Deshima Diaries consists of the journals that were kept by the chiefs of the Dutch trading post in Japan during the first two decades of the so called seclusion period (1640-1868). The employees of the Dutch East India Company – from 1640 the only Europeans in Japan - had to give up their relatively free life in the port of Hirado and were forced to move to the tiny island of Deshima in the Bay of Nagasaki. Continually surrounded by Japanese guards, spies, cooks, concubines and interpreters they were eager to continue their trading activities with their Japanese hosts. Every year, with a few exceptions, the chief of the factory and two or three staff members travelled to Edo to pay obeisance to the Shogun. The diaries in this volume describe in detail how the Dutch merchants grappled with the severe restrictions that were imposed on them, but their writings also shed surprising light on social and economic life in Nagasaki and beyond.

Table of Contents:
Editorial Note Acknowledgements List of Figures Prologue Introduction to the Contents of the Deshima Dagregisters of 1641–1660 Deshima, the Dutch Factory in Nagasaki: A Brief Introduction Dagregister of Opperhoofd Maximiliaen Le Maire: 9 June–31 October 1641 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Jan van Elseracq: 1 November 1641–29 October 1642 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Pieter Antonisz Overtwater: 29 October 1642– 1 August 1643 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Jan van Elseracq: 1 August 1643–24 November 1644 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Pieter Antonisz Overtwater: 24 November 1644– 29 November 1645 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Reijnier van Tzum: 30 November 1645– 27 October 1646 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Wilhem Versteeghen: 28 October 1646– 10 October 1647 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Frederik Coyett: 3 November 1647–9 December 1648 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Dircq Snoucq: 9 December 1648–5 November 1649 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Anthonio van Brouckhorst: 5 November 1649– 25 October 1650 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Pieter Sterthemius: 25 October 1650– 1 November 1651 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Adriaen van der Burgh: 1 November 1651– 3 November 1652 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Frederik Coyett: 4 November 1652–12 November 1653 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Gabriel Happart: 12 November 1653–31 October 1654 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Leonard Winnincx: 31 October 1654– 23 October 1655 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Johannes Boucheljon: 23 October 1655– 1 November 1656 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Zacharias Wagenaer: 2 November 1656– 26 October 1657 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Johannes Boucheljon: 27 October 1657– 23 October 1658 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Zacharias Wagenaer: 23 October 1658– 3 November 1659 Dagregister of Opperhoofd Johannes Boucheljon: 4 November 1659– 26 October 1660 Sources Glossary Remarks on the Use of the Indexes Index of Ships’ Names Index of Geographical Names Index of Non-Japanese Names Index of Japanese Names Subject Index