Sairan igen

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  • Date: 1713
  • Japanese: 采覧異言 (sairan igen)

Sairan igen is a five-volume work on world geography compiled by Arai Hakuseki in 1713.

Hakuseki's encounter with the Italian missionary Giovanni Battista Sidotti in 1708 is said to have inspired in him a great interest in geography, leading to this work. The Sairan igen is interesting in that it seems to take Europe as the center of interest, with Hakuseki relegating sections on Japan to the "Asia" volume of the set.

References

  • Watanabe Hiroshi, A History of Japanese Political Thought, 1600-1901, International House of Japan (2012), 156.