THE VIEW OF THE WESTERN COUNTRIES IN NISHIKAWA JOKEN'S (1648-1724) «ADJUSTED THOUGHTS ON TRADE WITH CHINA AND BARBARIANS»

The article describes the view of the Western countries in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1867). The basic source of the research is the treatise «Zo:ho: Kai Tsu:sho: Ko:» by Nishikawa Joken (1648-1724), which has been relatively rarely used by researchers despite its value. The author aimed to give a rational decription of the West, although in fact it approached almost grotesque. Still one should aknowledge that during the age of seclusion the Japanese were rather well informed about the external world. The main source of information were the Dutch living in Nagasaki.