Changes

Nankei arrived in [[Nagasaki]] around 6/20, and stayed there for more than twenty days. During his time there, he met with [[Isaac Titsingh]] and other agents of the [[Dutch East India Company]], as well as with a number of [[Chinese in Nagasaki|Chinese traders]], and Japanese ''[[Rangaku]]'' scholars such as [[Yoshio Kosaku|Yoshio Kôsaku]]. Nankei marveled at Dutch technologies, especially optics (microscrope, telescope, periscope, etc.) and maps, and wrote that the Chinese differed from Japanese only in dress, language, and behavior; in other words, he recognized no ethnic or racial difference between the people of China and Japan. His treatments of ethnic/racial difference were tied into theories about the influence of geography and climate upon temperament. Since China and Japan are geographically and climatically quite similar, he described no ethnic difference between the two peoples; however, he described Dutchmen as "cold" (i.e. distant and reserved), and Ryukyuans as "too warm in personality to pass for [Japanese], although they resemble the Japanese physically,"<ref>Yonemoto. p93.</ref> the result, in his thinking, it would seem, of their origins in climatically cold and warm places, respectively.

Nankei arrived in [[Nagasaki]] around 6/20, and stayed there for more than twenty days. During his time there, he met with [[Isaac Titsingh]] and other agents of the [[Dutch East India Company]], as well as with a number of [[Chinese in Nagasaki|Chinese traders]], and Japanese ''[[Rangaku]]'' scholars such as [[Yoshio Kosaku|Yoshio Kôsaku]]. Nankei marveled at Dutch technologies, especially optics (microscrope, telescope, periscope, etc.) and maps, and wrote that the Chinese differed from Japanese only in dress, language, and behavior; in other words, he recognized no ethnic or racial difference between the people of China and Japan. His treatments of ethnic/racial difference were tied into theories about the influence of geography and climate upon temperament. Since China and Japan are geographically and climatically quite similar, he described no ethnic difference between the two peoples; however, he described Dutchmen as "cold" (i.e. distant and reserved), and Ryukyuans as "too warm in personality to pass for [Japanese], although they resemble the Japanese physically,"<ref>Yonemoto. p93.</ref> the result, in his thinking, it would seem, of their origins in climatically cold and warm places, respectively.

Leaving Nagasaki, he traveled to [[Shimabara castle]] and to [[Amakusa]], and on the last day of the 7th month, recorded seeing the famed ''[[shiranui]]'' fires out over the [[Ariake Sea]] (aka Yatsushiro Sea). Commenting also on the [[Great Tenmei Famine|widespread famine]] being suffered in Kyushu at the time, he entered the territory of [[Satsuma han]] on 8/15, remaining there until the New Year. While there, he visited various sites in [[Satsuma province|Satsuma]] and [[Osumi province|Ôsumi provinces]], including [[Yamakawa]], [[Sakurajima]], and [[Kajiki]], where one of Satsuma's many sub-castles was located. Normally, it would have been quite difficult for an outsider to gain entry into Satsuma, due to the strict policies of the domain's government, but Nankei, along with his contemporary [[Furukawa Koshoken|Furukawa Koshôken]] and a few other prominent scholar-travelers, were fortunate at this time, as [[Shimazu Shigehide]], lord of Satsuma from [[1755]] to [[1787]], eased up considerably on these policies, opening up the domain to travelers and merchants to a greater extent. Given the unfamiliar, and normally inaccessible, nature of this region, Nankei wrote particularly extensively about these two provinces in his ''Saiyûki'', the travelogue of this journey which he would later publish in [[1795]].

Leaving Nagasaki, he traveled to [[Shimabara castle]] and to [[Amakusa]], and on the last day of the 7th month, recorded seeing the famed ''[[shiranui]]'' fires out over the [[Ariake Sea]] (aka Yatsushiro Sea). Commenting also on the [[Great Tenmei Famine|widespread famine]] being suffered in Kyushu at the time, he entered the territory of [[Satsuma han]] on 8/15, remaining there until the New Year. While there, he visited various sites in [[Satsuma province|Satsuma]] and [[Osumi province|Ôsumi provinces]], including [[Yamakawa]], [[Sakurajima]], and [[Kajiki]], where one of Satsuma's many sub-castles was located. Normally, it would have been quite difficult for an outsider to gain entry into Satsuma, due to the strict policies of the domain's government, but Nankei, along with his contemporary [[Furukawa Koshoken|Furukawa Koshôken]] and a few other prominent scholar-travelers, were fortunate at this time, as [[Shimazu Shigehide]], lord of Satsuma from [[1755]] to [[1787]], eased up considerably on these policies, opening up the domain to travelers and merchants to a greater extent. Given the unfamiliar, and normally inaccessible, nature of this region, Nankei wrote particularly extensively about these two provinces in his ''Saiyûki'', the travelogue of this journey which he would later publish in [[1795]]. He happened to arrive in Kagoshima at the time of a series of celebrations for the betrothal of Shigehide's daughter [[Kodai-in (1773-1844)|Shigehime]] to the shogunal heir, [[Tokugawa Ienari]]; two Ryukyuan royal princes, Prince Urasoe and Prince Nakagusuku, were also present for the celebrations, formally offering congratulations on behalf of their king, and so Nankei was able to witness much Satsuma & Ryukyuan ritual spectacle. Nankei was also able to meet with a number of Ryukyuans resident in the city, including two bearing the titles Gusukuma ''ueekata'' and Kochinda ''peechin'', sharing drinks and [[sanshin|songs]] with them, and interviewing them about Ryûkyû, and about their experiences in China.<ref>Maehira Fusaaki, ''Ryûkyû shisetsu no ikoku taiken'' 琉球使節の異国体験, ''Kokusai kôryû'' 国際交流 59 (1992), 67.; Tachibana Nankei 橘南谿, ''Saiyūki'' 西遊記, in ''Shin-Nihon koten bungaku taikei'' 新日本古典文学大系, vol. 98, (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1991), 245-254.</ref>

In the 2nd month, [[1783]], he left Kagoshima to begin the journey home. After a lengthy journey, including a stop in [[Hitoyoshi]], where he practiced medicine for 15 days, he arrived back in Kyoto, via Shikoku, in the summer.

In the 2nd month, [[1783]], Nankei left Kagoshima to begin the journey home. After a lengthy journey, including a stop in [[Hitoyoshi]], where he practiced medicine for 15 days, he arrived back in Kyoto, via Shikoku, in the summer.

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