, literally "The Document of Iki no Hakatoko", is a historical Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese record written by Iki no Hakatoko

Iki no Hakatoko

was a Japanese diplomat, legal scholar and writer.-Mission to China:* 659-661 envoy to China on behalf of the Empress* 667-668 he went to China on behalf of Emperor Tenji, travelling with Kasa no Moroishi to the court of the Gaozong Emperor of China...

. Composed late in the 7th century, the record is primarily known for being used as a reference in the composition of Nihon Shoki

Nihon Shoki

The , sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical...

as well as for being the oldest Japanese travel record. It is no longer extant.

Contents

While the record no longer exists, a fragment of its contents may be found in quotations. Passages are quoted four times in Nihon Shoki:

• the 2nd month of 654:
• the 7th month of 659: composed on the way to as well as at Chang'an
  Chang'an
  Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
  
  
• the 7th month of 660: composed around Luoyang
  Luoyang
  Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...
  
  
• the 5th month of 661: primarily relates the return journey

The various quotations relate details about the Imperial Japanese embassies to China and foreign policy

Foreign policy

A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...

around the middle of the 7th century.