Reize van Maarten Gerritsz. Vries in 1643 naar het Noorden en Oosten van Japan volgens het journaal gehouden door C.J. Coen, op het schip Castricum

Step aboard the 17th‑century Dutch fluyt Castricum and follow its captain Maarten Gerritsz. Vries as he steers toward the remote coasts of northern and eastern Japan. The original log, painstakingly recorded by the ship's senior officer C.J. Coen, reads like a sailor’s notebook, noting latitudes, weather, and the day‑to‑day challenges of a voyage that predates modern navigation. Accompanying the narrative are reproduced maps and facsimiles that reveal how Dutch cartographers visualised these distant lands for the first time.

Beyond the charted routes, the edition includes ethnographic notes by the renowned scholar Philipp Franz von Siebold, offering rare observations of Ainu communities, regional customs, and early trade contacts. These scholarly annotations turn the journal into a compact guide for anyone curious about the geography, language and livelihood of Japan’s frontier islands in the mid‑1600s. Listeners will hear the blend of pragmatic seamanship and cultural curiosity that defined the Dutch East India Company’s exploratory spirit.