Unbeaten Tracks in Japan: Travelers' Tales Classics [Paperback]

Isabella L. Bird (Author)

Book Description

Series: Travelers' Tales Classics | Publication Date: October 30, 2000

This classic travel book details Isabella Bird's 1878 trip, where she set out alone to explore the interior of Japan - a rarity not only because of Bird's sex but because the country was virtually unknown to Westerners. The Japan she describes is not the sentimental world of Madame Butterfly but a vibrant land of real people with a complex culture and hardscrabble lives.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Isabella Lucy Bird was an eminent English traveller and writer. She is renowned for her well-informed, challenging and delightful travel adventures in remote places. She was the first female Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in Edinburgh. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Travelers' Tales (October 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885211570
• ISBN-13: 978-1885211576
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,809,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Isabella Bird, Woman of Great Courage, May 16, 2003

By 

Robert A Johnson (Tustin, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unbeaten Tracks in Japan: Travelers' Tales Classics (Paperback)

This is one of the great travel books of all time. First of all it is an adventure. This English woman decided, for some strange reason of health, in 1878 to go to Japan and travel from Tokyo to the island of Hokkaido, roughly 500 miles as the crow flys but much longer by her route. She went "off the beaten track" where Westerners, men or women had never been before. Japan had been opened up to the West only 10 years before her journey. Word of her coming to a village (on horseback) caused such excitement that people that wanted a better view caused the roof of a building to collapse. Changing into night clothes was an ordeal because people would poke holes in the screens to watch her every move. Then there was the bugs and the rain storms and the rivers, etc., etc. It was well written and a joy to read.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating 19th Century Woman, February 25, 2002

By 

Lilly "navehil" (RAMAT HASHARON ISRAEL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Unbeaten Tracks in Japan: Travelers' Tales Classics (Paperback)

This book is actually a series of letters written in the 1870's by Isabella Bird, an intrepid Scotswoman,to her sister. Japan had "opened" to the west only some 10 years earlier and she was determined to visit the "untoured" areas of inland Japan, off the beaten track. I wondered to myself how many hordes of Western tourists had there already been to Japan at that time? What makes this book so interesting is twofold. First of all she describes peasant and village life in areas which were quite poor and did not conform to the picture of Japanese life in the cities of Tokyo or Kyoto at that time or now. As was true for Europe at the same period, there were huge differences in the standards of living between the different classes and between town and village. Her descriptions of the Ainu were especially vivid and interesting. The other aspect is Isabella Bird herself. She traveled by pack horse, cow, rickshaw and on foot via mountain tracks and fording countless rivers. She slept in flea infested Ryokan and endured being stared at endlessly. For weeks at a time she could speak only to her servant/interpreter since she did not know Japanese. Recommended for those with an interest in Japan or good travel writing.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars unexpected japan, July 3, 2006

By 

Phyllis A. Eaton "avid reader" (Guam, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Unbeaten Tracks in Japan: Travelers' Tales Classics (Paperback)

Bird provides a view of Japan that was unknown to outsiders in that day, and is little known to us today. The scenes she descibes of the interior of Japan would scarecly entice today's traveler; which makes her adventures all the more intriguing. Her extensive knowledge of history and botany enhances the drama; however, had she incuded a glossary of terms, as well as the common names of flora it would have sped my reading as I had to repeatedly refer to dictionaries and botanic references. Her ethnocentrism is revealed as she describes the natives of the area; a pracctice that would be frowned upon today. Never-the-less I look forward to reading more of her works.