Paper short abstract:

Deshima is almost always discussed in conjunction with Western-style depictions showing it cut off from the city of Nagasaki. However, the greater variety of visualizations of Deshima, in Japan and the West, exemplifies co-existing and non-hierarchical forms of early modern spatial epistemology.

Paper long abstract:

The artificial island Deshima in Nagasaki bay is arguably one of the most famous locations of early modern Japan. But the idea of Deshima is as artificial as the island itself. The representation of Deshima is tightly linked to the narrative of Western knowledge trickling into Japanese society through employees of the Dutch East India Company. Because of the prominence of the 'Dutch knowledge' narrative, Deshima is almost always discussed in conjunction with Western-style depictions showing it as fan-shaped and cut off from the city of Nagasaki. Behind that visual monopoly is the implicit assumption that certain Western forms of spatial representations are superior due to the accuracy of their rendering of topographical features.

However, there was a far greater variety of visual representations of Deshima, both in Japan and in the West, which are nevertheless rarely reproduced and discussed. For example, Japanese sailing charts depict Deshima as round, which makes sense from the point of view of a sailor who had to steer around it. On the other hand, early Western illustrations of Deshima show it as separated but integral to Nagasaki's urban fabric. Additionally, souvenir images of Nagasaki on porcelain or stacked paper show Nagasaki from the waterline, with Deshima fully integrated in the cityscape.

Through close analysis of this expanded visual corpus, this paper reintegrates Deshima within the early modern spatial epistemology, and by doing so it exemplifies a way to conceive that epistemology as plural and non-hierarchical.