Research results questioned to society (Book review: Etsuko Miyata, "Manila Galleon boueki: toujiki no taiheiyou bouekiken (Manila Glleon Trade: Pacific trade zone for ceramics)", Tokyo: Keio university press inc., 2017.)

At the end of the 15th century, a number of Western countries aimed to reach Asia and spent a succession of years exploring shipping routes. In the 16th century, navigation technology improved and the development of the galleon, a large sailing ship, also progressed. Around the middle of the 16th century, Western ships were appearing often in the Asian seas.

This book is an attempt to reveal the reality of the galleon trade between Manila in the Philippines and Acapulco in Mexico in the 16th and 17th centuries, with a focus on Chinese ceramics.

According to the 'Afterword' by the author (p. 195), this book is based on a doctoral thesis submitted to the Graduate School of History, Rikkyo University in 2015. As the title of the book is written in English, it seems that the doctoral thesis was written in English. The title is 'Trade structure and network between Asia and America during the 16th and 17th centuries : Portuguese intervention in the Manila galleon trade'.^*1 What a grand theme!

As I have not seen the doctoral thesis, I am not sure whether this book is part of it, the whole of it, or a heavily revised version, but the book consists of the following table of contents.

Introduction.
Chapter 1: Portuguese and Spanish expansion into Asian waters
Chapter 2: Commerce and merchants in the Manila galleon trade
Chapter 3 Export of Chinaware in Nueva España
Chapter 4: The distribution of Chinaware and Asian goods in Spanish society
Conclusion.

Based on this table of contents, this book is summarised. It could be said that the Portuguese and Spaniards went to Asia (chapter 1), created galleon trading centres in Manila and Acapulco (chapter 2), and transported Chinaware to Nueva España (chapter 3), which in turn were transported to Spain (chapter 4).

If I had to describe my impression of the book in one word, it would be that it was a book that I had a difficult time reading through. I am ashamed to reveal that I have no background in world history, so I did not know the 'galleons' in the title. I also did not know about 'Nueva España', which appears frequently in the text, including in the chapter titles. These are just a few examples, but I read on in the hope that the author would provide a clear explanation in time, but there was not the slightest sign of this. Finally, I had to turn to Wikipedia for help.

In the end, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, maps and subtexts were necessary to complete the reading. Thanks to this, I was able to gain a wider perspective. Well, these problems can be put down to the reviewer's lack of literacy. But what about the content?

If I had to describe it in consideration of the subject matter of this book, I would say that it is like wandering in an ocean without knowing where to arrive. This means that it is difficult to understand what the material is being picked up and analyses are being made in order to clarify. This is one of the reasons why I could not read the book.

Of course, fragments of the destination are visible and hidden. The overall aim of the book must be to clarify the 'specific structure of the galleon trade', and it must have set 'Chinaware' as a trump card for this. However, I was forced to consider the questions about whether the choice of materials, the methods of analysis and the considerations were correct for the purposes and research questions set out in the chapters. This is clearly shown in the heavy use of 'probably', 'likely', 'inferred', 'conceivable' and 'likely' in the considerations drawn out through the analysis. This does not tell us what has been clarified.

This book is a research book, so previous research is cited to a certain extent. However, the author writes that the previous researches do not point out or clarify, although it never shows the point reached by the earlier researches. This is like not having a compass to guide one's voyage. By referring to the points reached by earlier researchers, the author should be able to relativise the position of her own research. The lack of criticism of previous research means that the author's own research achievements can only be seen through a haze.

Based on these details, I am impressed that the book was able to be published. The publication seems to have been funded by the Grant-in-Aid for publication of research results (scientific book) of the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research in Japan.^*2 If so, this means that the experts have decided that this book should be asked of society, even without regard to its selling point. The reviewers have judged this book in response to this judgment. I would like to know where the reviewers were in their assessment of the book.

Nevertheless, the reviewer picked up this book because found the title groundbreaking. As the author points out, "The reality of the galleon trade is that only silk and silver played a significant part and did not create the large-scale trading network that is thought to exist today" (p.4), previous studies have largely focused on individual commodities such as silver, silk, tea, cotton, sugar, spices and opium, etc., but have not yet provided a complete view of the trade.

At the base of trade would be the aspect of exchanging goods that were rare or nonexistent in the area. Trading ships must have carried a wide variety of goods. In the past, we have seen that there were still many products that have not received much attention, but that have radically changed people's lives. And it is an undeniable fact that our lives today are an extension of those products. I would like to end this review saying that I look forward to the author's future research.