A Tale of the Camellia

現代のドイツと江戸時代の日本が時空を超えた一点で結びつく。本書はピルニッツ宮庭園の温室で毎年冬になると見事な花を咲かせる、印象的な椿の大木の物語。スウェーデンの植物学者で医師のカール・ピーター・トゥーンベリーは、かつて長崎の人工島・出島を訪れた。そこは18世紀日本とオランダとの唯一の通商窓口であった。オランダ東インド会社商館長とともに将軍拝謁のため、彼は長崎から江戸に向かった。滞在中、近代西洋医学の知識や最新の知見に興味を持つ多くの日本人が彼を訪ねて来た。しかし彼は、アムステルダムの教授ヨハネス・ブュルマンから、4本の椿をヨーロッパに持ち帰るという秘密の使命を帯びていた。大通詞の吉雄幸作は、彼がこの使命を果たすために助力する。(本書は、2012年万来舎刊『安永の椿』の英訳版)
Germany today and Japan in the Edo period are connected by a point that spans time and space. This book traces the tradition of the impressively large camellia tree, which blossoms magnificently every winter in the exclusive glass house of the Pillnitz Palace Gardens. A Swedish botanist and doctor Carl Peter Thunberg once came to Nagasaki, to the artificial island of Dejima, which in the 18th century was the only window of access for trade and culture in the relationship between Japan and the Netherlands. An audience journey with the head of the Dutch East India Company took Carl Peter Thunberg from Nagasaki to Edo, the Japanese capital. During his stay there, he was visited by many Japanese who were interested in modern Western medical knowledge and the latest findings. Thunberg, however, had a secret mission to fulfil from Johannes Burman, his professor in Amsterdam, namely to bring four camellias to Europe. The Japanese Grand Master …