The versatile and complex works of poet and state adviser Constantijn Huygens show a few instances of perceptions of Japan. Intriguing is his epigram ‘Iaponsche Trijn’ [Japanese Kitty] that at a closer look indicates how well-informed he actually was about this far away country on the other side of the globe. The poem is also one of the first sources that contain a new Dutch word watten for cotton wool and leads, within a wider context of the Dutch and Paris’ circles around Huygens, to clear evidence of the Japanese origin of the word watten itself.
Article is in Dutch.