The is a five-volume geography by Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 Confucian philosopher, government official, and poet Arai Hakuseki

Arai Hakuseki

was a Confucianist, scholar-bureaucrat, academic, administrator, writer and politician in Japan during the middle of the Edo Period, who advised the Shogun Tokugawa Ienobu. His personal name was Kinmi or Kimiyoshi . Hakuseki was his pen name...

 (1657-1725). Completed in 1713, it the first work of world geography published in Japan. Based on knowledge that Hakuseki gained through conversations with missionary Giovanni Battista Sidotti

Giovanni Battista Sidotti

Giovanni Battista Sidotti was an Italian Jesuit priest. During the Edo period, he entered Japan illegally and was arrested, whereupon he was confined until his death....

, and referencing such works as Matteo Ricci

Matteo Ricci

Matteo Ricci, SJ was an Italian Jesuit priest, and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China Mission, as it existed in the 17th-18th centuries. His current title is Servant of God....

's Great Map of Ten Thousand Countries, the books describe the geography, history, customs, and biological organisms of the world as known during Hakuseki's day.