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Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- ERRATA
- GLOSSARY OF JAPANESE WORDS
- INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
- LETTER I
- LETTER II
- LETTER III
- LETTER IV
- LETTER V
- LETTER VI
- LETTER VII
- LETTER VIII
- LETTER IX
- LETTER IX.—(Continued.)
- LETTER X
- LETTER XI
- LETTER XII
- LETTER XIII
- LETTER XIII.—(Continued.)
- LETTER XIII.—(Completed.)
- LETTER XIV
- LETTER XV
- LETTER XV.—(Concluded)
- LETTER XVI
- LETTER XVII
- LETTER XVIII
- NOTES ON MISSIONS IN NIIGATA
- LETTER XIX
- LETTER XX
- LETTER XXI
- LETTER XXI.—(Concluded.)
- NOTES ON FOOD AND COOKERY
- LETTER XXII
- LETTER XXIII
- LETTER XXIV
- LETTER XXV
- LETTER XXV.—(Continued.)
- LETTER XXV.—(Concluded.)
- LETTER XXVI
- LETTER XXVII
- LETTER XXVIII
- LETTER XXIX
- LETTER XXX
- LETTER XXXI
- LETTER XXXII
- LETTER XXXIII
- LETTER XXXIII.—(Continued.)
- LETTER XXXIV
- LETTER XXXV
- LETTER XXXVI
- LETTER XXXVII
- Map of Japan
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- ERRATA
- GLOSSARY OF JAPANESE WORDS
- INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
- LETTER I
- LETTER II
- LETTER III
- LETTER IV
- LETTER V
- LETTER VI
- LETTER VII
- LETTER VIII
- LETTER IX
- LETTER IX.—(Continued.)
- LETTER X
- LETTER XI
- LETTER XII
- LETTER XIII
- LETTER XIII.—(Continued.)
- LETTER XIII.—(Completed.)
- LETTER XIV
- LETTER XV
- LETTER XV.—(Concluded)
- LETTER XVI
- LETTER XVII
- LETTER XVIII
- NOTES ON MISSIONS IN NIIGATA
- LETTER XIX
- LETTER XX
- LETTER XXI
- LETTER XXI.—(Concluded.)
- NOTES ON FOOD AND COOKERY
- LETTER XXII
- LETTER XXIII
- LETTER XXIV
- LETTER XXV
- LETTER XXV.—(Continued.)
- LETTER XXV.—(Concluded.)
- LETTER XXVI
- LETTER XXVII
- LETTER XXVIII
- LETTER XXIX
- LETTER XXX
- LETTER XXXI
- LETTER XXXII
- LETTER XXXIII
- LETTER XXXIII.—(Continued.)
- LETTER XXXIV
- LETTER XXXV
- LETTER XXXVI
- LETTER XXXVII
- Map of Japan
Summary
Tsugurata, July 27
Three miles of good road thronged with half the people of Kubota on foot and in kurumas, red vans drawn by horses, pairs of policemen in kurumas, hundreds of children being carried, hundreds more on foot, little girls, formal and precocious-looking, with hair dressed with scarlet crêpe and flowers, hobbling toilsomely along on high clogs, groups of men and women, never intermixing, stalls driving a “roaring trade” in cakes and sweetmeats, women making mochi as fast as the buyers ate it, broad rice-fields rolling like a green sea on the right, an ocean of liquid turquoise on the left, the grey roofs of Kubota looking out from their green surroundings, Taiheisan in deepest indigo blocking the view to the south, a glorious day, and a summer sun streaming over all, made up the cheeriest and most festal scene that I have seen in Japan, men, women, and children, vans and kurumas, policemen and horsemen, all on their way to a mean-looking town, Minato, the junk port of Kubota, which was keeping matsuri, or festival, in honour of the birthday of the god Shimmai. Towering above the low grey houses there were objects which at first looked like five enormous black fingers, then like trees with their branches wrapped in black, and then—comparisons ceased; they were a mystery.
Dismissing the kurumas, which could go no farther, we dived into the crowd, which was wedged along a mean street, nearly a mile long—a miserable street of poor teahouses, and poor shop-fronts; but in fact you could hardly see the street for the people. Paper lanterns were hung close together along its whole length.
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- Information
- Unbeaten Tracks in JapanAn Account of Travels in the Interior, Including Visits to the Aborigines of Yezo and the Shrines of Nikkô and Isé, pp. 327 - 335Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1880