Ene Selart, a lecturer at the University of Tartu, has recently published a book "Estonia and Japan: Relations from the 19th Century to the Beginning of the 21st Century."

Together with historical photographs and travelogues, the book provides an overview of the relations between Estonia and Japan over a period of 200 years, from the first known contact in 1804 to the 100th anniversary of official relations between the two countries in 2021.

Selart has studied Japanese language and international relations in Japan, and she currently teaches Japanese history at the University of Tartu.

Despite the half-world distance between Estonia and Japan, Estonians have historically shown great interest in this remote and exotic place. This is supported by the number of Japanese novels translated into Estonian.

Selart's own interest in Japan began in high school, when she read Japanese fiction and classical poetry. "I realized how little I understood. But when you think about it, you understand that all of these images and expressions in Japanese poetry mean something different. In literature, too, all the settings, idioms, and protagonists differ from our realities," she said.

After graduating from high school, Selart went on to study history in college and wrote her thesis on Japan. "So, my adventure started in high school. Later, I traveled to Japan to study, and I've been connected with Japan ever since," she said.

Considering the limited scope of the Estonian language translation, Chinese, Korean, or Japanese fiction holds a unique position in Estonia. Not only in terms of volume but also in terms of quality. "We have very good Japanese translators like Rein Raud, Alari Allik, Maret Nukke, Margit Juurikas, and others," she said.

Estonian sailors' and soldiers' travel books is a rare phenomenon

It is impossible to say when the first Estonians arrived in Japan. Many Estonian sailors have sailed the world's oceans, yet their voyages remain unrecorded. However, according to written sources, the first Estonian to arrive in Japan was Adam Johann von Krusenstern, a Baltic German nobleman and admiral of Tsarist Russia, in 1804.

The expedition's goal was to conduct scientific and cartographic research and establish relations with China and Japan. For this purpose, the Russian ambassador and diplomat Nikolai Rezanov was on board the ship "Nadezhda." Japan only allowed a few Dutch and Chinese ships to land at that time, so the Russian delegation received a rather cold welcome.

After months of waiting under guard, the shogunate commissioner simply sent the czarist representatives away, asking them never to return. The Japanese did not accept the gifts they brought. The local Baltic German press at the time published letters from Krusenstern's trip.

"Perhaps Estonians arrived there much earlier in the crews of Dutch ships, but we know nothing about them because there are no sources," Selart added.

Japan was essentially a closed country until the mid-19th century, so only very fragmentary reports reached Europe.

It is noteworthy that the first Estonians arrived in Japan before the end of the isolation period in 1866. It was Jüri Jürison aboard the warship Askold.

Since the literacy rate among Estonians in the 19th century was exceptionally high by world standards, both he and several Estonian sailors who later came to Japan wrote about their voyages in the press of the time.

"Jüri Jürison is a completely unique phenomenon in our country. The arrival of the first Estonian in Japan two years prior to the Meiji Restoration always comes as a significant surprise to the Japanese," she said.

In fact, when Perry arrived in Yokohama in 1853, the first ports were already open, according to Selart. The researcher is referring to U.S. Com. Matthew C. Perry's expedition to Japan, during which he forced Japan to open up to foreign trade under threat of arms.

The book reveals that Jürison was a very curious, not to say foolhardy, man who wandered around Japan on his own and got to know the locals. During his stay in Japan, he visited Yokohama, Nagasaki, and Hakodate. The newspaper Eesti Postimees published reports of his travels from 1867 to 1869.

Jürison have seen a lot in his short time in Japan. He observed nature, interacted with both Japanese and other foreigners, visited restaurants, described the cities, befriended a Buddhist priest, and much more. Among other things, his description of attending a funeral procession has gone down in history. The book contains many of his observations.

Jürison's travelogue is one of the first of its kind to appear in the Estonian press. It is known that there were other Estonian sailors on board the Askold, but they left no written record. "I am very sorry that very few of these travelogues could be squeezed into the book due to a lack of space. This material is extremely fascinating," Selart said.

In the second half of the 19th century, sailors' travelogues published in the press introduced distant Japan to the Estonian worldview.

Estonians in the war between Russia and Japan

The 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War was the first major military conflict between the so-called East and West, with the latter losing. Japan achieved a somewhat surprising victory over Tsarist Russia thanks to its superior military strategy and tactics. As the Estonian territory was part of the Tsarist Empire at the time, Estonian men had to go to war, and their impressions were recorded later.

"The Russian soldier was largely illiterate. At the same time, Estonian literacy was impressive by world standards. According to the national census, more than 90 percent of Estonians could read, but slightly less could write. If you didn't meet this requirement, you would not be considered a member of the community and would not be eligible to marry. In this sense, pragmatism was working for the Estonians," Selart said.

She said that the Estonians' unique perspective in this war stems from their position as a buffer between two powerful nations. "Their perspective is absolutely unique. Estonians formed a small group that was part of the Tsarist army, but they were often marginalized because of their different religion, cultural background, and language," the researcher said.

For example, the soldiers described how they forged friendships with the Japanese rather than the Russians in hospitals. The Estonians and Baltic Germans, unlike the Russians, viewed the Japanese as respectable opponents worthy of respect. For us, the Japanese soldier was smart, skilled, well-equipped, and well-armed. The Estonians envied the Japanese guns and their winter clothing.

As a new genre, newspapers began to publish letters from soldiers, officers, nurses, and doctors.

Carefully selected words and photos

"Estonia and Japan: Relations from the 19th century to the early 21st century" is written in three languages: Estonian, Japanese, and English.

Since there is a lot of historical and sometimes sensitive material, Selart said she had to choose carefully what to include and what to leave out.

"Writing the whole book was a real pain. You can't write about everything. I joked with friends that it wasn't a question of what to put in, but what to leave out. You have to work with the best examples in a minimalist way and take into account a variety of circumstances," she said.

Selart, for example, also mentioned the translation issue: what are the possibilities of Estonian and what are the possibilities of Japanese? "What an Estonian can understand, a Japanese can't, and vice versa."

Another problem arose when selecting quotations from the letters of 19th-century Estonian sailors: "Which quotation do you choose from these letters? Unlike many other great nations, the Japanese are deeply curious about what others think of them."

Selart said that due to space constraints, the book had to focus on Estonians' thoughts and knowledge of Japan, largely omitting what the Japanese knew about Estonia. "The only option was to focus this time on Estonia in the hope that someone would write the other way around book as well."

The book's cover depicts a sacred bridge in Nikko, Japan, belonging to the Futarasan Shrine. "Like the bridge motif on the cover, I was trying to go in one direction and make that connection," she said.

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