Abstract
A perplexing question emerges based upon the revelatory information we obtained in the Jesuit archives and Pontifical Gregorian University Library in Rome about the sixteenth-century Japanese-Portuguese relationship: Why did the Historia de Japam remain unpublished for 400 years? The author Luis Frois, as we have seen, provided a consistent and veridical account of his experiences in Japan. Some of his letters, once they reached Rome, were immediately translated in Italian and published in small books that can be found in the Vatican Library, mostly edited by Luigi Zannetti. Moreover, the institution that had requested the work, the Jesuit Society, was becoming an increasingly powerful entity and was keen to publish every bit of information about their apostolic mission and their achievements. Thus, there would appear to be no reason for the burying of such a unique work. This chapter reveals a plausible cause for it.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The Jesuit archives: ARSI (Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu) where some of the original letters of Luis Frois and Alexandre Valignano are kept.
- 2.
Frois’ 10 books at the Vatican Library in Rome were published right after their arrival, between 1586 and 1599.
- 3.
A. Valignano, visitador, ao P. Geral Cláudio Acquaviva [Macau] 30 de Outubro de 1588 Jap. Sin. 10 II, 335r, original, primeira via in [5].
- 4.
The present book was already in process in 2012 when this English translation appeared, see [8].
- 5.
Maffei was an Italian Jesuit who went to Lisbon to study the reports from India and was impressed by Frois’ talents as a chronicler. He was the one who recommended his name to the Jesuit’s General for the writing of the Historia de Japam.
- 6.
The next seven quotations were extracted from the English version of Tratado in e-book format (2014) with no page reference, see [8].
- 7.
The next 8 quotations were translated by the Maria José Sá da Bandeira and extracted from [7].
- 8.
Jacques Bésineau refers in his Sumario’s notes that “Valignano and his closest collaborators Frois and Mexia have with no doubt exchange observations, and notes about their own experiences” [2].
- 9.
Bésineau commenting on the coincidence of the dual analysis both of Frois’ Historia and Valignamo’s Sumario asserts: Valignamo and his closest collaborators Frois and Mexia, have surely exchanged observations and remarks on their respective experiences.
- 10.
Manuscript from Biblioteca da Ajuda, 49-IV-53.
- 11.
Translation by Cristina Castel-Branco [18].
- 12.
Translation by Cristina Castel-Branco [18].
- 13.
Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850–1935) is one of the foremost British Japanologists active in Japan during the late nineteenth century. His many works include the first translation of the Kojiki into English (1906), A Handbook of Colloquial Japanese (1888), his famous Things Japanese (1890), A Practical Guide to the Study of Japanese Writing (1905) and A Handbook for Travellers in Japan (1891—in collaboration with W.B. Mason).
- 14.
Translation by Cristina Castel-Branco [18].
- 15.
Translation by Cristina Castel-Branco [18].
- 16.
Now fully translated with commentary in English in the recent Daniel Rieff publication in [8].
References
Batista, A. R. (1997). Luís Froís in Macau. In E. K. de Carvalho (Ed.), Luis Frois: Proceedings of the international conference, United Nations University, Tokyo, September 24–26, 1997 (pp. 40–59). Tokyo: Embassy of Portugal in Japan.
Valignano, A. (1990). Les jésuites au Japon—Relation missionnaire (ed and trans: Bésineau, J.). Paris: Desclée de Brouwer.
de Matos, A. T. (1997). The voyage made by Luis Frois and his companions from Lisbon to India in 1548. In E. K. de Carvalho (Ed.), Luis Frois: Proceedings of the international conference, United Nations University, Tokyo, September 24–26, 1997 (pp. 40–59). Tokyo: Embassy of Portugal in Japan.
Wicki, J. (1976). Introdução. In Historia de Japam: 1 o v., 1549–1564 (Vol. I, pp. 1–49). Lisboa: Biblioteca Nacional.
Wicki, J. (1976). Anexo. In Historia de Japam: 1 o v., 1549–1564 (Vol. I, pp. 397–413). Lisboa: Biblioteca Nacional.
García, J. M. (1993). Apresentação. In Europa Japão: um diálogo civilizacional no século XVI (pp. 7–45). Lisboa: Comissão nacional para as comemorações dos descobrimentos portugueses.
Frois, L. (1993). Europa Japão: um diálogo civilizacional no século XVI (ed: García, J. M., & D’Intino, R.). Lisboa: Comissão nacional para as comemorações dos descobrimentos portugueses.
Frois, L. (2014). The first European description of Japan, 1585: A critical English-language edition of striking contrasts in the customs of Europe and Japan by Luis Frois, S.J. (ed and trans: Danford, R., Reff, D. T., & Gill, R.). London, New York: Routledge.
Leão, F. G. C. (Ed.). Jesuítas na Ásia—Catálogo e Guia (Vol. I). Lisboa: Tipografia Welfare Limitada.
Correia, P. (2003). Father Diogo de Mesquita (1551–1614) and the cultivation of Western plants in Japan. Bulletin of Portuguese—Japanese Studies, 7, 73–91.
Sioris, G. A. (1997). Chronicler and interpreter of Japan, a Jesuit between two countries. In Luis Frois: Proceedings of the international conference, United Nations University, Tokyo, September 24–26, 1997. Tokyo: Embassy of Portugal in Japan.
Bésineau, J. (1990). Introduction. In Les jésuites au Japon—Relation missionnaire (pp. 18–51). Paris: Desclée de Brouwer.
Schurhammer, G. (1929). O P. Luís Frois S.J. e a sua “História do Japão”. Brotéria—Fé—Ciências—letras, IX, 95–107.
Fróis, L. (1976). Historia de Japam: 1 o v., 1549–1564 (ed: Wicki, J., Vol. I. V Vols.). Lisboa: Biblioteca Nacional.
Frois, L. (1593). P. Luís Fróis ao P. Geral Cláudio Acquaviva Macau, 18 de Janeiro de 1593. Jap. Sin. 12 I, 96r-97v. ARSI (Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu).
Fróis, L. (1993). Europa Japão—Um diálogo civilizacional do século XVI (ed: D’Intino, R.). Lisboa: Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses.
de Carvalho, E. K. (2005). Sushi Bar, nós e os Japoneses. Dafundo: Editorial Tágide.
Lévi-strauss, C. (1998). Préface. In Européens et Japonais—traité sur les contradictions et différences de mœurs. Paris: Chandeigne.
Rodrigues, J. (1955). História da Igreja do Japão: 1620–1633 (BA-149-XV-12/13) (ed: Pinto, J. A. A., Vol. I). Macau: Notícias de Macau.
Dias, A. C. (1997). Historia do Japão: The representation of the other in the work of Luís Fróis. In E. K. de Carvalho (Ed.), Luis Frois: Proceedings of the international conference, United Nations University, Tokyo, September 24–26, 1997 (pp. 70–77). Tokyo: Embassy of Portugal in Japan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Castel-Branco, C., Carvalho, G. (2020). The Forgotten Treaty on Contradictions and the Unpublished Historia de Japam. In: Luis Frois: First Western Accounts of Japan's Gardens, Cities and Landscapes. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0018-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0018-3_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-0017-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-0018-3
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)