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 XXVII: Shirasawa • Letter XXXII
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
Good-tempered Intoxication—The Effect of Sunshine—A tedious Altercation— Evening Occupations—Noisy Talk—Social Gatherings—Unfair Comparisons.
SHIRASAWA, July 29.
EARLY this morning the rain-clouds rolled themselves up and disappeared, and the bright blue sky looked as if it had been well washed. I had to wait till noon before the rivers became fordable, and my day's journey is only seven miles, as it is not possible to go farther till more of the water runs off.3 We had very limp, melancholy horses,4 and my mago was half-tipsy, and sang, talked, and jumped the whole way. Saké is frequently taken warm, and in that state produces a very noisy but good-tempered intoxication. I have seen a good many intoxicated persons, but never one in the least, degree quarrelsome; and the effect very soon passes off, leaving, however, an unpleasant nausea for two or three days as a warning against excess. The abominable concoctions known under the names of beer, wine, and brandy, produce a bad-tempered and prolonged intoxication, and delirium tremens, rarely known as a result of saké drinking, is being introduced under their baleful influence.
The sun shone gloriously and brightened the hill-girdled valley in which Odaté stands into positive beauty, with the narrow river flinging its bright waters over green and red shingle, lighting it up in glints among the conical hills, some richly wooded with coniferoe, and others merely covered with scrub, which were tumbled about in picturesque confusion. When Japan gets the sunshine, its forest-covered hills and garden-like valleys are turned into paradise. In a journey of 600 miles there has hardly been a patch of country which would not have been beautiful in sunlight.
We crossed five severe fords with the water half-way up the horses’ bodies, in one of which the strong current carried my mago off his feet, and the horse towed him ashore, singing and capering, his drunken glee nothing abated by his cold bath. Everything is in a state of wreck. Several river channels have been formed in places where there was only one; there is not a trace of the road for a considerable distance, not a bridge exists for ten miles, and a great tract of country is covered with boulders, uprooted trees, and logs floated from the mountain sides.
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- Unbeaten Tracks in JapanRevisiting Isabella Bird, pp. 183 - 186Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2018