Treatise on the contradictions and differences in customs between Europe and Japan

In 1585, after more than two decades spent in Japan, Luís Fróis, a Portuguese missionary of the Society of Jesus, finished writing the Treatise on the Contradictions and Differences in Customs between Europe and Japan. A profound connoisseur of Japanese reality, language, and customs, the Jesuit created two parallel portraits of civilizations that were culturally and geographically very distinct.

The Treatise presented the habits and idiosyncrasies of the Japanese, facilitating the creation of a system of references through comparison with Europe. Despite the anthropological richness of the description of Japan in the 16th century, the work circulated only among a restricted group of the Society of Jesus, and it remained unpublished until the mid-20th century when the manuscript was first found at the Royal Academy of History in Madrid.