Glossary of Japanese words of Dutch origin

Numerous exchanges occurred, leading to a branch of Western learning in Japan known as rangaku (蘭学), or "Dutch learning", where the ran (蘭, "Dutch") in rangaku comes from Oranda, the Japanese word for Holland; gaku (学) is of Sino-Japanese origin and means "learning".

[1] In the process, a number of terms were adopted from Dutch into the Japanese language.

At one point, some 3,000 words are thought to have been used, especially in the areas of technical and scientific vocabulary.

[1] About 160 such words of Dutch origin remain in use today in standard Japanese.

[1] (As of 2021[update]) usage reduced to specific terms e.g. Hakata Dontaku.

Arrival of a Dutch Ship by Kawahara Keiga . Philipp Franz von Siebold at Dejima with his Japanese wife Kusumoto Otaki and their baby-daughter Kusumoto Ine observing a Dutch ship towed into Nagasaki harbour using a teresukoppu ( telescope ).