In 1770 hardly anyone in Japan knew very much about Western science and medicine, but 60 years later there was a flourishing community dedicated to pursuing these subjects. This dissertation focuses on the network formed by members of this community to discuss the books and ideas brought to Nagasaki by Dutch traders, paying special attention to the social strategies they used in forming personal linkages. Such strategies started with the study of the Dutch language, the necessary medium for deciphering Western texts, and proceeded to articulate various forms of patronage, legitimacy, position-taking, and intellectual and familial reproduction.

Personal ties of this type were crucial for expanding the flow of information in early modern Japan. One prominent Dutch studies scholar, Otsuki Gentaku (1757--1827), serves as the focal point for the dissertation. Concepts from social network theory and Pierre Bourdieu are used to explain the growth of the group of Rangaku (Dutch studies) scholars around Gentaku, and the social strategies they practiced are taken up in a historical context featuring society-wide proliferation of travel and correspondence as well as the rise of private academies and intellectual salons.

Based on this research I hope to clear up certain issues in our understanding of late Tokugawa Japan. Rejecting the concept of Western "impact," I contend that domestic social factors shaped the Japanese reception of knowledge from the West. Stressing social ties within this community instead of the new knowledge itself, I hold that the creation of a communications network had a more profound effect than the actual foreign ideas. Most important, these intact, stable social systems contributed to the smooth transition from Tokugawa feudalism (1603--1868) to the new Meiji government after 1868. A condition of "ruptural unity" arose, allowing integrated social groups such as this Rangaku network to maintain autonomy from the central government. These groups may provide a clue to Japan's success in its determination to enter into the wider world as the 19th century progressed.