"Things Japanese" by Basil H. Chamberlain: the first cultural guide to Japan?

Abstract

In 1890, Basil H. Chamberlain published “Things Japanese”, an encyclopaedic book on Japan and its culture. The book enjoyed a formidable success and it was translated into Spanish during the second decade of the 20th century by Gonzalo Jiménez de la Espada, although that translation was never published and only survived partially, until its recovery in 2014. Here we analyse Cosas de Japón as one of the first cultural guides for the cultivated tourist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In particular, we focus on its title, and the central concept that articulates the book and serves as a cognitive metaphor about a different culture: the idea that Japan is a topsy turvy world, a world upside down. We investigate the origins of this idea, already present in works by Alessandro Valignano and, especially, Luis Frois.