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Unbeaten Tracks in Japan

Author Isabella L. Bird (Mrs. Bishop)
Category Travel
Language English
Published 1885
Word count 112,374
Excerpt

volume, but I venture to present it to the public in the hope that, in spite of its demerits, it may be accepted as an honest attempt to describe things as I saw them in Japan, on land journeys of more than 1400 miles.

Since the letters passed through the press, the beloved and only sister to whom, in the first instance, they were written, to whose able and careful criticism they owe much, and whose loving interest was the inspiration alike of my travels and of my narratives of them, has passed away.

ISABELLA L. BIRD.

LETTER I

First View of Japan--A Vision of Fujisan--Japanese Sampans-- "Pullman Cars"--Undignified Locomotion--Paper Money--The Drawbacks of Japanese Travelling.

ORIENTAL HOTEL, YOKOHAMA, May 21.

Eighteen days of unintermitted rolling over "desolate rainy seas" brought the "City of Tokio" early yesterday morning to Cape King, and by noon we were steaming up the Gulf of Yedo, quite near the shore. The day was soft and grey with a little faint blue sky, and, though the

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2008.05.05
R Stephan

The first woman inducted into the Royal Geographical Society, the author was well known in the 19th century for her travelogues. This one covers the Japanese interior and may well be the first Western account of some places and people there. As such, it's highly interesting historically, but also well and sensibly observed and written. You'll be surprised how much Japan has changed in 100 years.
Wikipedia says her best known is that from the Rockies, so that I'll try next.

2008.01.16
Fritters

A fascinating glimpse into the past, written not by a historian but by a woman who just wanted to go traveling (and she does so alone at a time when it wasn't done, very brave!) It's extremely interesting and very honest, from the cold and the rain and the fact that there WAS no real tourist industry back then, she tells it exactly as it was, a real slice of life. I loved it, download this one.