[Sca-cooks] Japanese (was: What did they..)

[Elaine Koogler]

Ummmm....I'm not really sure what you're saying here.  No, for the most
part, Japanese did not go to Europe.  But they were not
xenophobic...depending on when you're talking about.  Their nationalistic
phases alternated,  sort of, with their acceptance of foreign influences.
Almost all of Japanese culture came from somewhere else...ceramics from
China and Korea, dress from China, tea ceremony from China, etc., etc.

The question of Japanese visiting Europe was asked on the SCA-JML List to
which I belong.  Master Edward of Effingham, considered to be one of the
SCA's experts on Japan, answered as follows:

"The Otomo, Arima, and Omura daimyo sent a mission to Rome in 1582. Four
kids (good Cat'lics all) and a small suite of handlers from the Portuguese
mission to Japan. They were the toast of Italy, and news of the mission was
reported as far away as Lithuania. There are extant portraits of them having
audiences with The Papa dressed variously in Japanese garb and European
finery. They
returned to Japan in 1590.

Elisonas talks about them at a bit of detail in "Deus Destroyed."

So there was contact...and during the time when my persona lived!  So I'm
not sure where you got your information, but I believe it's not totally
correct.  Yes, there were periods when the Japanese turned in on
themselves...they used these times to assimilate what they had learned from
foreign cultures and make it peculiarly Japanese.

Sorry to have taken up so much of your time, dear friends, with all of this,
but really felt I needed to answer this.

Food Content:  I am very excited about the fact that Dame Hauviette, a
member of the JML list and I are working together to produce a translation
of an almost period (1643) Japanese cookbook.  We are thinking about doing
redactions of the recipes and possibly publishing it!  For any who are
interested....we'll keep you posted.

Kiri


----- Original Message -----
From: "vongraph" <vongraph at earthlink.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 5:53 PM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Japanese (was: What did they..)


>
>
> . We're losing that romantically-induced dream
> > > of the Golden Age of Chivalry. We're becoming a "culture" if you will,
> of
> > > "anyone who might have existed anytime, anywhere before 1600, or
>
> << Again I also am not rabid about it but folks use the term "anyone who
> Europeans could have had contact with between 600 and 1600"  And we get
all
> these Janpanese personas. Oh we are visiting or traveling or whatever.  I
> would think that if you were going to go that route the first thing you
> might do is read a bit about Japanese Culture and the Country.  The
Japanese
> DID NOT visit Europe, it was against the Japanese Law for anyone to leave
> Japan. Punishable by death.  The Japanese are the worlds greatest
zenophobes
> and racists. They did not go to Europe:)  The Chinese probably did but the
> Chinese are not Japanese. Out of era for us the Porteguese did bring
> Japanese to Europe, mostly the monks converted by the church, the were
> brought as "trophies" as it were. Oh well guess I would rather have
Japanese
> personas (no ninjas please) than the folks with horns, tails, wings, fangs
> etc.
>
> Elric
>
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