Dejima — The Only Window to the West for 200 Years

**The VOC records room:** The reconstructed Dutch chief's office contains a working reproduction of the 1750s accounting desk where all Japan-Europe trade records were maintained. The museum displays actual VOC ledgers showing commodity prices — Japanese silver, Chinese silk, Dutch glassware — that document the economic mechanics of global trade in extraordinary detail. **Rangaku (Dutch Learning):** Dejima's historical importance is as the origin point of rangaku — the study of Western sciences through Dutch texts. The museum's second floor exhibits medical instruments, anatomical texts, and telescopes that entered Japan through Dejima and fundamentally altered Japanese intellectual life. This layer of impact is often missed by visitors focused on the architectural reconstruction. **Live interpretation:** Costumed interpreters (dressed as Dutch traders and Japanese interpreters) perform short skits recreating historical trade negotiations — daily 11:00 and 14:00. Japanese with English subtitles on displays. Surprisingly engaging for understanding the linguistic and cultural mediation that made trade possible.