The sources used are kept at the Nationaal Archief (National Archives) in The Hague in the collection of Het archief van de Nederlandse factorij in Japan, 1609–1860 (abbreviated NFJ; the Archives of the Dutch Factory in Japan, 1609–1860), catalogue reference number 1.04.21. The NFJ numbers refer to the inventory of M.P.H. Roessingh, 1964. Copies of the dagregisters and other records relating to the Dutch factory in Japan can also be found in Het Archief van de Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (abbreviated VOC, the Archives of the Dutch East India Company), catalogue reference number 1.04.02, in the series Overgekomen brieven en papieren (Incoming letters and papers, i.e. in the Netherlands).
A dagregister covers the term of office of the incumbent opperhoofd. By shogunal order, from 1641 onwards, the opperhoofden had to be replaced every year. A dagregister usually starts in October or November of a particular year, when the incoming opperhoofd assumed the charge of the factory from his predecessor. The dates were dependent on the shogunal order dictating that the VOC ships had to sail from Japan by the 20th day of the 9th lunar month, around which time one dagregister ends and the next begins.
Most of the manuscripts lack page numbers, we have inserted these in our text.
NFJ 55
This record contains the Dagregisters of Opperhoofd Francois Caron and Opperhoofd Maximiliaen Le Maire, 4 February 1639–31 October 1641. We have not edited the part of the manuscript which deals with the factory at Hirado, but we started on the day of the move to Deshima, 9 June 1641, when Le Maire was in charge.
NFJ 56
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Jan van Elseracq, 1 November 1641–29 October 1642.
NFJ 57
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Pieter Antonisz Overtwater, 29 October 1642–1 August 1643; Dagregister of Opperhoofd Jan van Elseracq, 1 August 1643–24 November 1644. We have not edited the journal kept by Van Elseracq from his departure from Batavia on the Lillo sailing to Nagasaki via Tonkin, 24 April–31 July 1643.
NFJ 59
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Pieter Antonisz Overtwater, 24 November 1644–29 November 1645; Dagregister of Opperhoofd Reijnier van Tzum, 30 November 1645–27 October 1646.
NFJ 60
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Wilhem Versteeghen, 28 October 1646–10 October 1647.
NFJ 61
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Frederik Coyett, 3 November 1647–8 December 1648.
NFJ 62
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Dircq Snoecq, 9 December 1648–5 November 1649.
NFJ 63
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Anthonio van Brouckhorst, 5 November 1649–25 October 1650.
NFJ 64
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Pieter Sterthemius, 25 October 1650–1 November 1651.
NFJ 65
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Adriaen van der Burgh, 1 November 1651–3 November 1652.
NFJ 66
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Frederik Coyett, 4 November 1652–12 November 1653.
NFJ 67
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Gabriel Happart, 12 November 1653–31 October 1654.
NFJ 68
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Leonard Winnincx, 31 October 1654–23 October 1655.
NFJ 69
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Johannes Boucheljon, 23 October 1655–1 November 1656.
NFJ 70
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Zacharias Wagenaer, 2 November 1656–26 October 1657.
NFJ 71
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Johannes Boucheljon, 27 October 1657–23 October 1658.
NFJ 72
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Zacharias Wagenaer, 23 October 1658–3 November 1659.
NFJ 73
Dagregister of Opperhoofd Johannes Boucheljon, 4 November 1659–26 October 1660. The original manuscript is in a poor state and cannot be consulted.