The book of the American scientist Donald Keane tells about Japan of the 18th and early 19th centuries. The author provides interesting material about the contacts of the Japanese with Europeans, their acquaintance with European culture and certain branches of science, about the impact of this acquaintance on life, religion, philosophy, art, on the development of medicine in Japan, astronomy, physics. In a separate chapter, the author talks about the first Japanese who came to Russia and their impressions of our country.