Re-searching the Encounter of Comenius and the Japanese: Between the Three Books of God and the Three Talents

Shinichi Sohma

This paper reconsiders the history of Japanese encounters with the works of Comenius. Research on the Japanese reception of Western culture before the mid-19th century has not confirmed any evidence of Comenius's works entering Japan. However, the works of John Johnston, Comenius's friend from his time in Poland, and Ludwick Meyer, his opponent from his time in the Netherlands, were well received in Japan. Nakamura Tekisai's Kinmō Zui, a similar work to Comenius's Kinmo Zui, reached Europe during the 17th century. Comenius's works, which were religiously colored and largely consisted of textbooks aimed at younger readers, would have been difficult to accept in feudal Japan. However, Comenius's worldview, which influenced the principles of compiling thesauruses, was not necessarily unfamiliar to Japanese Confucian scholars seeking to compile Western knowledge.

Studia Comeniana et historica

MUSAEUM COMENII HUNNO BRODENSE

51

103-104

0323-2220