During the almost two and a half centuries when Japan shunned the rest of the world, the one Western country that remained on nodding terms was the Netherlands. This year the two countries are celebrating 400 years of continuous contact in what must be one of the strangest international relationships ever.
The current exhibition at the Edo Tokyo Museum focuses on this connection through documents, artwork and items collected and prized by the Dutch traders, offering a miscellaneous time-capsule of Japan during its hermit stage.
Japan in this period is often portrayed as a country under the heel of a paranoid regime of xenophobic Luddites, stifling every innovation with ruthless efficiency. In fact, however, the Tokugawa Shogunate retained a keen interest in the outside world.
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