A sign of true friendship

As is well known, the Dutch (and other Europeans) went to Japan from the seventeenth century onwards for the purpose of trade. There was always at least one physician to take care of the Europeans at the Dutch trading post on Deshima and in some cases he was a German. Probably the most famous of these is Phillip Franz von Siebold. He established his own medical school near Nagasaki and made friends with many Japanese. Often, for fun, he would give them Dutch or Latin names. He gave one Japanese the Latin name Wilhelmus Botanicus reflecting his interest in plants. This was Katsuragawa Hoan (also Hoken). Several members of the Katsuragawa family associated with the Dutch and often signed themselves with a Dutch version of their name - Kaneel Rivier ('Cinnamon River'). The Europeans and Japanese often exchanged gifts. In 1827 Hoan gave Von Siebold a copy of Seikei Zusetsu 成形図説 (‘Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Agricultural Products’), first printed in 1804 and consisting of some 30 volumes. This included marvellous illustrations of indigenous Japanese plants accompanied by their names in Japanese, Latin and Dutch. This copy can be found in Leiden University Library. In the inside cover of volume 30, Hoan wrote a dedication in beautiful cursive Dutch ‘Aan de Heer Siebold geschenk van zijn vriend Kaneel Rivier Junior (i.e. Katsuragawa) W. Botanicus Den 5 Siguats 9 Jaar Bunzij (i.e. 1827) - to Mr. Siebold, a present from his friend Cinnamon River Junior. W. Botanicus. This provides a wonderful illustration of the friendships that evolved between the Japanese and Europeans in nineteenth-century Japan, as well as reminding us that many Japanese learnt Dutch in Tokugawa Japan.

Further reading: Chattterjee, Shantonu Abe, and Tinde van Andel (2019) ‘Lost Grains and Forgotten Vegetables from Japan: the Seikei Zusetsu Agricultural Catalog (1793–1804)’ Economic Botany, 73(3), pp. 375–389.