Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Author’s Preface to the English Edition
- The Kanasaka Commentaries
- Unbeaten Tracks in Japan
- Preface
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Letter I: First Impressions • Letter I
- Letter II: The Old and the New • Letter II
- Letter III: Yedo • Letter III
- Letter IV: Chinese and Servants • Letter VI
- Letter V: Worship • Letter VIII
- Letter VI: The Journey Begun • Letter IX
- Letter VI (Continued): From Kasukabé to Nikkô • Letter IX (Continued)
- Letter VII: Kanaya’s House • Letter X
- Letter VIII: Nikkô • Letter XI
- Letter IX: A Watering - Place • Letter XII
- Letter X: Domestic Life • Letter XIII
- Letter X. - (Continued.): Evening Employments • Letter XIII (Continued)
- Letter X. - (Completed): Shopping • Letter XIII (Completed.)
- Letter XL: Scant Costumes • Letter XIV
- Letter XII: Dirt and Disease • Letter XV
- Letter XII-(Concluded): High Farming • Letter XV (Concluded)
- Letter XIII: A Malarious District • Letter XVI
- Letter XIV: Extreme Filthiness • Letter XVII
- Letter XV: A River Journey • Letter XVIII
- Letter XVI: Niigata • Letter XX
- Letter XVII: Discomforts • Letter XXII
- Letter XVIII: A Prosperous District • Letter XXIII
- Letter XIX: A Japanese Doctor • Letter XXIV
- LETTER XX: A FEARFUL DISEASE • LETTER XSN
- LETTER XX.—(Continued?): FUNERAL CEREMONIES • LETTER XXV {Continued)
- Letter XX.—(Concluded): Policemen • Letter XXV (Concluded.)
- Letter XXI: A Hospital Visit • Letter XXVI
- Letter XXII: The Police Force • Letter XXVII
- Letter XXIII: ITO’S Virtues And Faults • Letter XXVIII
- Letter XXIV: A Wedding Ceremony • Letter XXIX
- Letter XXV: A Holiday • Letter XXX
- Letter XXVI: A Narrow Escape • Letter XXXI
- Letter XXVII: Shirasawa • Letter XXXII
- Letter XXVIII: An Inundation • Letter XXXIII
- Letter XXVIII: – (Continued) Children’s Games • Letter XXXIII (Continued)
- Letter XXIX: The Tanabata • Letter XXXIV
- Letter XXX: Popular Superstitions • Letter XXXV
- Letter XXXI: Primitive Simplicity • Letter XXXVI
- Letter XXXII: End of the Journey • Letter XXXVII
- Letter XXXIII: The Mission WorK • Letter XXXVIII
- Letter XXXIV: HakodatÉ • Letter XXXIX
- Letter XXXV: A Change of Scenery • Letter XL
- Letter XXXV.—(continued.): A Meeting • Letter XL (continued.)
- Letter XXXVI: Living with the Ainos • Letter XLI
- Letter XXXVI—(Continued.): Aino Hospitality • Letter XLI (Continued.)
- Letter XXXVII: Savage Life • Letter XLII
- Letter XXXVII.—(Continued.): Costume and Customs • Letter XLII (Continued.)
- Letter XXXVII. -(Continued.): Religion of Ainos • Letter XLII (Continued.)
- Letter XXXVIII: A Tipsy Scene • Letter XLIII
- Letter XXXIX: Visit to a Volcano • Letter XLIV
- Letter XXXIX. — (Continued.): A Wet Trip • Letter XLIV (Continued.)
- Letter XL: A Surprise • Letter XLV
- Letter XL.—(Continued.): Solitude • Letter XLV (Continued.)
- Letter XLI: The Missing Link • Letter XLVI
- Letter XLII: Compliments • Letter XLVIII
- Letter XLIII: A Cyclone • Letter XLIX
- Letter XLIV: Cremation • Letter LIX
- Index
- Mr. Murray's General List of Works
LETTER XX: A FEARFUL DISEASE • LETTER XSN
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2022
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Author’s Preface to the English Edition
- The Kanasaka Commentaries
- Unbeaten Tracks in Japan
- Preface
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Letter I: First Impressions • Letter I
- Letter II: The Old and the New • Letter II
- Letter III: Yedo • Letter III
- Letter IV: Chinese and Servants • Letter VI
- Letter V: Worship • Letter VIII
- Letter VI: The Journey Begun • Letter IX
- Letter VI (Continued): From Kasukabé to Nikkô • Letter IX (Continued)
- Letter VII: Kanaya’s House • Letter X
- Letter VIII: Nikkô • Letter XI
- Letter IX: A Watering - Place • Letter XII
- Letter X: Domestic Life • Letter XIII
- Letter X. - (Continued.): Evening Employments • Letter XIII (Continued)
- Letter X. - (Completed): Shopping • Letter XIII (Completed.)
- Letter XL: Scant Costumes • Letter XIV
- Letter XII: Dirt and Disease • Letter XV
- Letter XII-(Concluded): High Farming • Letter XV (Concluded)
- Letter XIII: A Malarious District • Letter XVI
- Letter XIV: Extreme Filthiness • Letter XVII
- Letter XV: A River Journey • Letter XVIII
- Letter XVI: Niigata • Letter XX
- Letter XVII: Discomforts • Letter XXII
- Letter XVIII: A Prosperous District • Letter XXIII
- Letter XIX: A Japanese Doctor • Letter XXIV
- LETTER XX: A FEARFUL DISEASE • LETTER XSN
- LETTER XX.—(Continued?): FUNERAL CEREMONIES • LETTER XXV {Continued)
- Letter XX.—(Concluded): Policemen • Letter XXV (Concluded.)
- Letter XXI: A Hospital Visit • Letter XXVI
- Letter XXII: The Police Force • Letter XXVII
- Letter XXIII: ITO’S Virtues And Faults • Letter XXVIII
- Letter XXIV: A Wedding Ceremony • Letter XXIX
- Letter XXV: A Holiday • Letter XXX
- Letter XXVI: A Narrow Escape • Letter XXXI
- Letter XXVII: Shirasawa • Letter XXXII
- Letter XXVIII: An Inundation • Letter XXXIII
- Letter XXVIII: – (Continued) Children’s Games • Letter XXXIII (Continued)
- Letter XXIX: The Tanabata • Letter XXXIV
- Letter XXX: Popular Superstitions • Letter XXXV
- Letter XXXI: Primitive Simplicity • Letter XXXVI
- Letter XXXII: End of the Journey • Letter XXXVII
- Letter XXXIII: The Mission WorK • Letter XXXVIII
- Letter XXXIV: HakodatÉ • Letter XXXIX
- Letter XXXV: A Change of Scenery • Letter XL
- Letter XXXV.—(continued.): A Meeting • Letter XL (continued.)
- Letter XXXVI: Living with the Ainos • Letter XLI
- Letter XXXVI—(Continued.): Aino Hospitality • Letter XLI (Continued.)
- Letter XXXVII: Savage Life • Letter XLII
- Letter XXXVII.—(Continued.): Costume and Customs • Letter XLII (Continued.)
- Letter XXXVII. -(Continued.): Religion of Ainos • Letter XLII (Continued.)
- Letter XXXVIII: A Tipsy Scene • Letter XLIII
- Letter XXXIX: Visit to a Volcano • Letter XLIV
- Letter XXXIX. — (Continued.): A Wet Trip • Letter XLIV (Continued.)
- Letter XL: A Surprise • Letter XLV
- Letter XL.—(Continued.): Solitude • Letter XLV (Continued.)
- Letter XLI: The Missing Link • Letter XLVI
- Letter XLII: Compliments • Letter XLVIII
- Letter XLIII: A Cyclone • Letter XLIX
- Letter XLIV: Cremation • Letter LIX
- Index
- Mr. Murray's General List of Works
Summary
The Effect of a Chicken—Poor Fare—Slow Travelling—Objects of Interest— Kak’ke—The Fatal Close—A Great Fire—Security of the Kuras.
SHINGOJI, July 21.
VERY early in the morning, after my long talk ‘with the Kocho of Kanayama, Ito wakened me by saying, “You’ll be able for a long day's journey to-day, as you had a chicken yesterday,” and under this chicken's marvellous influence we got away at 6.45, only to verify the proverb, “The more haste the worse speed.” Unsolicited by me the Kocho sent round the village to forbid the people from assembling, so I got away in peace with a pack-horse and one runner. It was a terrible road, with two severe mountain-passes to cross, and I not only had to walk nearly the whole way, but to help the man with the kuruma up some of the steepest places. Halting at the exquisitely situated village of Nosoki, we got one horse, and walked by a mountain road along the head-waters of the Omono to Innai. I wish I could convey to you any idea of the beauty and wildness of that mountain route, of the surprises on the way, of views, of the violent deluges of rain which turned rivulets into torrents, and of the hardships and difficulties of the day; the scanty fare of sun-dried rice dough and sour yellow rasps, and the depth of the mire through which we waded! We crossed the Shione and Sakatsu passes, and in twelve hours accomplished fifteen miles! Everywhere we were told that we should never get through the country by the way we are going.
The women still wear trousers, but with a long garment tucked into them instead of a short one, and the men wear a cotton combination of breastplate and apron, either without anything else, or over their kimonos. The descent to Innai under an avenue of cryptomeria, and the village itself, shut in with the rushing Omono, are very beautiful.
The yadoya at Innai was a remarkably cheerful one, but my room was entirely fusuma and shoji, and people were peeping in the whole time. It is not only a foreigner and his strange ways which attract attention in these remote districts, but, in my case, my india-rubber bath, air-pillow, and, above all, my white mosquito net.
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- Unbeaten Tracks in JapanRevisiting Isabella Bird, pp. 143 - 145Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2018