{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.011850501367365542, 'fraction_numerical': 0.014585232452142206, 'mean_word_length': 4.809523809523809, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Beyond the silkworm eggs. The role of the Italian semai (silkworm eggs merchants) in spreading knowledge of Japan in Italy in the second half of the nineteenth century between art and science

ABSTRACT Due to a disease that affected European silkworms in the 1850s, Italian silkworm eggs merchants travelled from the Near East to the Far East looking for a solution. Few of them visited Japan as early as 1859 and from 1864 until the early 1880s they travelled to Japan yearly and some of them settled in Yokohama. They spent large amounts of money to buy silkworm eggs, but they also played an important role in the diffusion of Japanese objects especially in Northern Italy and they contributed to the development of the knowledge of Japan and of Japanese (and Chinese) flora and fauna. This essay will present the results of an ongoing research and will investigate some case studies, revealing the semai crucial role in shaping the early relations between Italy and Japan and in contributing in their country to the raising of the interest towards Japan, fueling also contemporary giapponismo.