中山物産考 下 / Description of Chūzan Products, Vol. 3

This book was written in 1769 by Noboru Tamura (1718-1776), an Edo physician and herbalist mostly known by his pseudonym, Ransui Tamura. The word “Chūzan” in the book’s title is another name for Ryukyu. There is a total of three volumes under the same title. Volume one is about the topography and specialty products of Ryukyu, and volumes two and three are based on the flora, fauna, and products of Ryukyu described in Chūzan Denshinroku (1721)—a compilation of Xú Bǎoguāng’s observations when he visited Ryukyu as an envoy in 1719, which he later published in China. His book entered Japan through Nagasaki during the nation’s period of isolation from the rest of the world. It was also published in Japan and became a textbook about Ryukyu. This is a copy of the book from the Iwase Archives made by Seifu Sasaoka in 1933.