Nishikawa Joken

• Born: 1648
• Died: 1724
• Japanese: 西川 如見 (Nishikawa Joken)

Nishikawa Joken was a prominent scholar of the 17th and early 18th centuries, known for his writings on tengaku (celestial sciences) and on the peoples of the world. Joken is regarded as one of the earliest Japanese scholars to engage with and promote European observational approaches to astronomy.

Joken published one of his most famous works on peoples and places of the world, Ka'i tsûshô kô, in 1695. This original version was in two volumes, and described the lands of China, Korea, Ryukyu, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and Europe, and their peoples. In 1709, Joken published an expanded version, Zôho ka'i tsûshô kô, covering the same subjects in five volumes.

References

• Daniel Said Monteiro, "Celestial Sciences in the Works of Nishikawa Joken (1648-1724)," Historia Scientarium 29-1 (2019), 112-135.