Engelbert Kaempfer: Journey from Nagasaki to Edo, 1691

In September 1690 the German physician Engelbert Kaempfer arrived in Nagasaki, then the only Japanese port open to Dutch and Chinese ships. The Dutch were kept on Dejima, an island dug out in 1636 and joined to the shore by a small bridge. Kaempfer wrote that they were treated "not like honest men, but like criminals, traitors, spies, prisoners". Still, physicians like him were sometimes called to treat high-ranking Japanese patients with the authorities' permission. Today Dejima is being rebuilt, with 25 early 19th-century buildings planned.

Visitor guidance: Dejima is a restored historic site in Nagasaki; check opening hours before you go.

At Shimonoseki Kaempfer's party boarded a barge for Osaka. In February 1691 he saw a port of around 400 to 500 houses that supplied ships with provisions. Shimonoseki has long been the gateway to Honshu island from the Asian continent. Today Shimonoseki is a city, so the exact spot of the Dutch landing is not known.

Location precision: Kaempfer names the port but not a single landing spot; the pin marks Shimonoseki itself.

From Shimonoseki the Dutch went by sea to Osaka, which Kaempfer calls a city "very famous for the extent of its commerce". There the party left the water and continued overland, to Kyoto and then to Edo, along the road he calls the Tookaido. The trading city he saw has changed beyond recognition, but Osaka Castle, one of Japan's most famous landmarks, is the best place to start a visit.

Location precision: Kaempfer describes the whole city, not one site; the pin marks Osaka Castle as a landmark.

Visitor guidance: Osaka Castle is the city's main sight.

On the Tookaido, Kaempfer's party stopped for dinner at a village on a lake, which he calls Fakone. They had made half their day's march. He singled out the lake itself as remarkable. Lake Ashi still lies on the historic Tokaido road, and large sections of the Old Tokaido are preserved around it. Hakone Shrine also stands on the shore. The lake is known for its views of Mount Fuji.

Location precision: Kaempfer's village lay on the lake's shore; the pin marks Lake Ashi, not the exact village.

Visitor guidance: Sections of the Old Tokaido are preserved around the lake.

In 1691 Kaempfer reached Edo with the annual Dutch embassy from Dejima. He stayed about twenty days. The shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi took an interest in Western matters and asked the Dutch to talk and sing with one another, to see how Westerners behaved. Edo Castle is now part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace, and its grounds are the nearest you can come to the audience hall.

Visitor guidance: The former castle grounds form part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace area.