Japan: Audience of Cornelisz van Outhoorn, chief of the Dutch factory at Dejima (Nagasaki), at the castle in Edo in 1692. At the request of Shogun Tsunayoshi, Outhoorn's factory physician Engelbert Kaempfer is showing a European dance.

Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (February 23, 1646-February 19, 1709) was the fifth shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He is known for instituting animal protection laws, particularly for dogs. This earned him the nickname of 'dog shogun'.

In 1691, Engelbert Kaempfer visited Edo as part of the annual Dutch embassy from Dejima in Nagasaki. He journeyed from Nagasaki to Osaka, to Kyoto, and there to Edo. Kaempfer gives us information on Japan during the early reign of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. As the Dutch embassy entered Edo in 1692, they asked to have an audience with Shogun Tsunayoshi. While they were waiting for approval, a fire destroyed six hundred houses in Edo, and the audience was postponed.

Tsunayoshi and several of the ladies of the court sat behind reed screens, while the Dutch embassy sat in front of them. Tsunayoshi took an interest in Western matters, and apparently asked them to talk and sing with one another for him to see how Westerners behaved. Tsunayoshi later put on a No drama for them.

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