 Titsingh showed an almost incredible interest and distinguished himself as an attentive observer of Japanese civilization for a European of his time when compared to his colleagues in Dejima.Titsingh arrived in Nagasaki on 15 August 1779, where he took over the factory from Arend Willem Feith.He established cordial and amicable relations between the interpreters and Japanese; before his arrival there had been constant fights over trade issues and a deep hostility towards the Japanese interpreter, who seemed in trade issues corrupt to the Dutch traders.