Fermenting science: Sake, soy sauce and the Dutch quest for Japanese knowledge in the Tokugawa era

For over two centuries (1633–1853), Japan sealed itself from the outside world in a policy known as sakoku – with one crucial exception. The Dutch East India Company maintained the sole European trading post on the artificial island of Dejima in Nagasaki harbor, creating an exclusive channel through which Japanese knowledge flowed to the West.

This talk will explore how European merchants, physicians and naturalists leveraged this unique position to systematically study Japanese knowledge. Working through the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences (established in 1778 in what is now Jakarta), they investigated Japanese innovations that fascinated European observers: How did the Japanese create soy sauce, that mysterious black condiment that enhanced flavour and preserved food? What was the secret behind sake’s fermentation process? How did they cultivate and process tea varieties unknown in Europe?

Dutch, Swedish and German scholars meticulously documented Japanese customs, medical practices and technological innovations, sending detailed reports back through the Batavian Society’s network. These insights arrived in Europe just as Enlightenment thinkers were hungry for empirical knowledge from around the globe.

Drawing on original sources and Batavian Society transactions, Maria Iulia Florutau will reveal how this small group of European intermediaries shaped Western understanding of Japan for centuries. The talk will be augmented by historical objects including replica bottles of sake and soy sauce, bringing to life the tangible commodities that transformed everything from European agricultural practices to philosophical debates about civilisation and progress.