One of the most sensational events of Japan's "Christian century" was the European trip of "the four boys," described some years ago by Michael Cooper in "The Japanese Mission to Europe" (2005). The sight of these gracious princelings in the Catholic courts of Italy, Spain and Portugal moved and astonished Europe as the revelation of an unknown and exquisite civilization.

JAPANESE TRAVELLERS IN SIXTEENTH-CENTURY EUROPE: A Dialogue Concerning the Mission of the Japanese Ambassadors to the Roman Curia (1590), edited by Derek Massarella, translated by J. F. Moran. Hakluyt Society, 2012, 481 pp., $119.95 (hardcover)

Now the Hakluyt Society presents, in a stylish and lively translation by the late Joseph Moran, an account from the boys themselves of their historic journey of eight years (1582-1590). It centers on the two thrilling years spent in Europe, but also contains pioneering descriptions of India and China. The trip was organized by Alessandro Valignano, visitor of the Jesuit mission in Japan, and the publication of this report, in the form of a dramatic colloquy, was its literary harvest.