The article deals with the origins of Oriental and Japanese studies in old Russia. Even in the 10th century there were various relations with nomadic people Pecheneg, Khazar, Kipchak. Russia was the part of ‘The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks'. Tsar Peter the Great inclinations moved the Russians to more close trading and cultural relations with other countries, including the Orient. For Russia, there were two stages for the formation of the image of Japan - relayed (indirect) and direct contacts with Japan and the Japanese. The first data concerning Japan had come to Russia through the Europeans, the Dutch trading post in Nagasaki etc. (indirect phase). The second (direct phase) started from systematical appearance of the Japanese in Russia due shipwrecks as well as the conjugation and exploration of Siberia. The push to Siberia had provided neighboring positions of both countries. Many Russian missions had tried to make a treaty with the magnetically attractive Land of the Rising Sun. The Tsar Peter's dream to bind a bargain and trade with Japan had come true when one and a half century had passed, in the middle of the 19th century. Thus, the image constructing of Japan had differed from other Europeans it was more clarified. The Russian School of Japanese studies had originated 300 years before.The above-mentioned facts had promoted the foundation for cultural interchange and mutual understanding. The article sets out a framework for every detail in the historical development of the process from the dawn of Japanology in old Russia.