Editing An'ei (section)

==Events of the ''An'ei'' era==
* '''1775''' (''An'ei 4''): Epidemic diseases spread across the country &ndash; in Edo alone, an estimated 190,000 perished.<ref name="h121">Hall, John Whitney. (1955). ''Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan, '' p. 121.</ref>
* '''1775''' (''An'ei 4''): Swedish physician and botanist [[Carl Peter Thunberg]] arrives at [[Dutch East India Company|VOC]] outpost or "factory" in [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] bay; and ultimately, his scientific activities will result in the first detailed, descriptive survey of the flora and fauna of the Japanese archipelago.
* '''1778''' (''An'ei 7''): Kyoto suffers a massive flood.<ref name="h121"/>
* '''1778''' (''An'ei 7''): Volcanic island of [[Sakurajima]] erupts one mile away from [[Kagoshima, Kagoshima|Kagoshima]] &ndash; 16,000 dead.<ref name="h121"/>
* '''1779''' (''An'ei 8''): Dutch surgeon and cultural-anthropologist [[Isaac Titsingh]] arrives at [[Dejima]] for the first of three terms as ''[[Opperhoofd]]'' or captain of the VOC station; and ultimately, his seminal research will become a noteworthy step in that process in which the Japanese begin to describe and characterize themselves in their own terms. Titsingh's correspondence with [[William Marsden (orientalist)|William Marsden]], a [[philology|philologist]] colleague in the [[Royal Society]] in London, provides some insight into his personal appreciation of the task at hand. In an 1809 letter, he explains:

{{quote|To form a proper idea of the spirit, the character, and the customs of a Nation, almost unknown in Europe, I deemed it preferable to represent them in their own dress, rather than to enter myself into particular details, always infected by the manner of considering the facts, notwithstanding the utmost endeavors to be guided by truth in the most essential parts. [T]o obtain this end, I applied during my stay in Japan to some friends, reputed as men of learning, and free from all national prejudices. [T]hey procured me such works on various topicks, as enjoy'd with them the highest regard. [H]aving succeeding in this, a literal translation appeared to me more congenial with the purpose, and likely to be more satisfactory to the desire for more distinct notions on a people almost unknown, though fully deserving the attention, since a number of years so profusely lavished on the Chinese.|Isaac Titsingh<ref>Titsingh, Letter to Marsden dated 3 February 1809 in [[Frank Lequin]], ed. (1990). ''Private Correspondence of Isaac Titsingh'', Vol. I, p. 470, Letter No. 204 (not page number, but letter number &ndash; pagination is continuous across the two volumes); see also ''[[Nihon Ōdai Ichiran]]'' for a congruent excerpt in another 1809 letter from Titsingh to Marsden.</ref>}}

:''[[Bakufu]]'' policy in this era was designed to marginalize the influence of foreigners in ''An'ei'' Japan; however, an unintended and opposite consequence of ''[[sakoku]]'' was to enhance the value and significance of a very small number of thoughtful observers like Thunberg and Titsingh, whose writings document what each scholar learned or discovered first-hand. Thunberg's and Titsingh's published accounts and their unpublished writings provided a unique and useful perspective for [[Orientalists]] and [[Japanologists]] in the 19th century; and the work of both men continues to be rigorously examined by modern researchers today.<ref>Screech, Timon. (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=BLzQA7cpr7wC&q=Secret+Memoirs+of+the+Shoguns:+Isaac+Titsingh+and+Japan,+1779-1822  ''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822'', p. 73.]</ref>
* '''1780''' (''An'ei 9''): Heavy rains and floods in the Kantō necessitate extensive government relief in the flood-stricken areas.<ref name="h121"/>