UNBEATEN TRACKS IN JAPAN
AN ACCOUNT OF TRAVELS IN THE INTERIOR INCLUDING VISITS TO THE ABORIGINES OF HOKKAIDO (YEZO) AND THE SHRINE OF NIKKO

by Isabella L. Bird

PREFACE

Having been recommended to leave home, in April 1878, in order to recruit my health by means which had proved serviceable before, I decided to visit Japan, attracted less by the reputed excellence of its climate than by the certainty that it possessed, in an especial degree, those sources of novel and sustained interest which conduce so essentially to the enjoyment and restoration of a solitary health-seeker. The climate disappointed me, but, though I found the country a study rather than a rapture, its interest exceeded my largest expectations.
 

This is not a “Book on Japan,” but a narrative of travels in Japan, and an attempt to contribute something to the sum of knowledge of the present condition of the country, and it was not till I had traveled for some months in the interior of the main island and in Hokkaido (Yezo) that I decided that my materials were novel enough to render the contribution worth making. From Nikko northwards my route was altogether off the beaten track, and had never been traversed in its entirety by any European. I lived among the Japanese, and saw their mode of living, in regions unaffected by European contact. As a lady traveling alone, and the first European lady who had been seen in several districts through which my route lay, my experiences differed more or less widely from those of preceding travelers; and I am able to offer a fuller account of the aborigines of Hokkaido (Yezo), obtained by actual acquaintance with them, than has hitherto been given. These are my chief reasons for offering this volume to the public.

It was with some reluctance that I decided that it should consist mainly of letters written on the spot to my sister and a circle of personal friends, for this form of publication involves the sacrifice of artistic arrangement and literary treatment, and necessitates a certain amount of egotism; but, on the other hand, it places the reader in the position of the traveler, and makes him share the vicissitudes of travel, discomfort, difficulty, and tedium, as well as novelty and enjoyment. The “beaten tracks,” with the exception of Nikko, have been dismissed in a few sentences, but where their features have undergone marked changes within a few years, as in the case of Tokyo (Yedo), they have been sketched more or less slightly. Many important subjects are necessarily passed over.

In Northern Japan, in the absence of all other sources of information, I had to learn everything from the people themselves, through an interpreter, and every fact had to be disinterred by careful labor from amidst a mass of rubbish. The Ainos supplied the information which is given concerning their customs, habits, and religion; but I had an opportunity of comparing my notes with some taken about the same time by Mr. Heinrich Von Siebold of the Austrian Legation, and of finding a most satisfactory agreement on all points.

Some of the Letters give a less pleasing picture of the condition of the peasantry than the one popularly presented, and it is possible that some readers may wish that it had been less realistically painted; but as the scenes are strictly representative, and I neither made them nor went in search of them, I offer them in the interests of truth, for they illustrate the nature of a large portion of the material with which the Japanese Government has to work in building up the New Civilization.

Accuracy has been my first aim, but the sources of error are many, and it is from those who have studied Japan the most carefully, and are the best acquainted with its difficulties, that I shall receive the most kindly allowance if, in spite of carefulness, I have fallen into mistakes.

The Transactions of the English and German Asiatic Societies of Japan, and papers on special Japanese subjects, including “A Budget of Japanese Notes,” in the Japan Mail and Tokyo Times, gave me valuable help; and I gratefully acknowledge the assistance afforded me in many ways by Sir Harry S. Parkes, K.C.B., and Mr. Satow of H.B.M.’s Legation, Principal Dyer, Mr. Chamberlain of the Imperial Naval College, Mr. F. V. Dickins, and others, whose kindly interest in my work often encouraged me when I was disheartened by my lack of skill; but, in justice to these and other kind friends, I am anxious to claim and accept the fullest measure of personal responsibility for the opinions expressed, which, whether right or wrong, are wholly my own.

The illustrations, with the exception of three, which are by a Japanese artist, have been engraved from sketches of my own or Japanese photographs.
I am painfully conscious of the defects of this 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.

UNBEATEN TRACKS IN JAPAN

PREFACE
LETTER I
First View of Japan—A Vision of Fiji-san—Japanese Sampans—“Pullman Cars”—Undignified Locomotion—Paper Money—The Drawbacks of Japanese Traveling.
ORIENTAL HOTEL, YOKOHAMA, May 21.

LETTER II

Sir Harry Parkes—An “Ambassador’s Carriage”—Cart Coolies.
YOKOHAMA, May 22.

LETTER III

Yedo and Tokyo—The Yokohama Railroad—The Effect of Misfits—The Plain of Yedo—Personal Peculiarities—First Impressions of Tokyo- H. B. M.’s Legation—An English Home.
H.B.M.’s LEGATION, YEDO, May 24.

LETTER IV

“John Chinaman”—Engaging a Servant—First Impressions of Ito—A Solemn Contract—The Food Question.

H.B.M.’s LEGATION, YEDO, June 7.

LETTER V

Kwan-non Temple—Uniformity of Temple Architecture—A Kuruma Expedition—A Perpetual Festival—The Ni-o—The Limbo of Vanity—Heathen Prayers—Binzuru—A Group of Devils—Archery Galleries—New Japan—An Elegante.
H.B.M.’s LEGATION, YEDO, June 9.

LETTER VI

Fears—Traveling Equipment’—Passports—Coolie Costume—A Yedo Diorama—Rice-Fields—Tea-Houses—A Traveler’s Reception—The Inn at Kasukabe—Lack of Privacy—A Concourse of Noises—A Nocturnal Alarm—A Vision of Policemen—A Budget from Yedo.
KASUKABE, June 10.

LETTER VII

A Japanese Idyll—Musical Stillness-My Rooms—Floral Decorations- Kanaya and his Household—Table Equipment’.
KANAYA’S, NIKKO, June 15.

LETTER VIII

The Beauties of Nikko—The Burial of Iyeyasu—The Approach to the Great Shrines—The Yomei Gate—Gorgeous Decorations—Simplicity of the Mausoleum—The Shrine of Iyemitsu—Religious Art of Japan and India—An Earthquake—Beauties of Wood-carving.
KANAYA’S, NIKKO, June 21.

LETTER IX

A Japanese Pack-Horse and Pack-Saddle—Yadoya and Attendant—A Native Watering-Place—The Sulfur Baths—A “Squeeze.” 


YASHIMAYA, YUMOTO, NIKKOZAN MOUNTAINS, June 22.

LETTER X


Peaceful Monotony—A Japanese School—A Dismal Ditty—Punishment—A Children’s Party—A Juvenile Belle—Female Names—AJuvenile Drama- Needlework—Calligraphy—Arranging Flowers—Kanaya—Daily Routine- An Evening’s Entertainment—Planning Routes—The God-shelf.
IRIMICHI, Nikko, June 23.

LETTER XI
Comfort disappears—Fine Scenery—An Alarm—A Farm-house—An unusual Costume—Bridling a Horse—Female Dress and Ugliness—Babies—My Mago—Beauties of the Kinugawa—Fujihara—My Servant—Horse-shoes—An absurd Mistake.
FUJIHARA, June 24.

LETTER XII
A Fantastic Jumble—The “Quiver” of Poverty—The Water-shed—From Bad to Worse—The Rice Planter’s Holiday—A Diseased Crowd—Amateur Doctoring—Want of Cleanliness—Rapid Eating—Premature Old Age.
KURUMATOGE, June 30.

LETTER XII--(Concluded)
A Japanese Ferry—A Corrugated Road—The Pass of Sanno—Various Vegetation—An Unattractive Undergrowth—Preponderance of Men.

LETTER XIII

The Plain of Wakamatsu—Light Costume—The Takata Crowd—A Congress of Schoolmasters—Timidity of a Crowd—Bad Roads—Vicious Horses—Mountain Scenery—A Picturesque Inn—Swallowing a Fish-bone—Poverty and Suicide—A Inn-kitchen—England Unknown!--My Breakfast Disappears.


KURUMATOGE, June 30.

LETTER XIV
An Infamous Road—Monotonous Greenery—Abysmal Dirt—Low Lives—The Tsugawa Yadoya—Politeness—A Shipping Port—A Barbarian Devil.
TSUGAWA, July 2.

LETTER XV
A Hurry—The Tsugawa Packet-boat—Running the Rapids—Fantastic Scenery—The River-life—Vineyards—Drying Barley—Summer
Silence—The Outskirts of Niigata—The Church Mission House.
NIIGATA, July 4.

LETTER XVI
Abominable Weather—Insect Pests—Absence of Foreign Trade—A Refractory River—Progress—The Japanese City—Water Highways—Niigata Gardens—Ruth Fyson—The Winter Climate—A Population in Wadding.
NIIGATA, July 9.

LETTER XVII
The Canal-side at Niigata—Awful Loneliness—Courtesy—Dr. Palm’s Tandem—A Noisy Matsuri—A Jolting Journey—The Mountain Villages—Winter Dismalness—An Out-of-the-world Hamlet—Crowded Dwellings—Riding a Cow—“Drunk and Disorderly”—An Enforced Rest—Local Discouragements—Heavy Loads—Absence of Beggary—Slow Traveling.
ICHINONO, July 12.

LETTER XVIII
Comely Kine—Japanese Criticism on a Foreign Usage—A Pleasant Halt—Renewed Courtesies—The Plain of Yonezawa—A Curious Mistake- The Mother’s Memorial—Arrival at Komatsu—Stately Accommodation—A Vicious Horse—An Asiatic Arcadia—A Fashionable Watering-place—A Belle—“Godowns.” 
KAMINOYAMA.

LETTER XIX
Prosperity—Convict Labor—A New Bridge—Yamagata—Intoxicating Forgeries—The Government Buildings—Bad Manners—Snow Mountains—A Wretched Town.
KANAYAMA, July 16.

LETTER XX
The Effect of a Chicken—Poor Fare—Slow Traveling—Objects of Interest—Kak’ke—The Fatal Close—A Great Fire—Security of the Kuras.
SHINGOJI, July 21.

LETTER XXI

The Necessity of Firmness—Perplexing Misrepresentations—Gliding with the Stream—Suburban Residences—The Kubota Hospital—A Formal Reception—The Normal School.

KUBOTA, July 23.

LETTER XXII
A Silk Factory—Employment for Women—A Police Escort—The Japanese Police Force.
KUBOTA, July 23.

LETTER XXIII
The Plain of Wakamatsu—Light Costume—The Takata Crowd—A Congress of Schoolmasters—Timidity of a Crowd—Bad Roads—Vicious Horses—Mountain Scenery—A Picturesque Inn—Swallowing a Fish-bone—Poverty and Suicide—An Inn-kitchen—England Unknown!--My Breakfast Disappears.
KURUMATOGE, June 30.

LETTER XXIV
The Symbolism of Seaweed—Afternoon Visitors—An Infant Prodigy—A Feat in Calligraphy—Child Worship—A Borrowed Dress—A Trousseau—House Furniture—The Marriage Ceremony.
KUBOTA, July 25.

LETTER XXV
A Holiday Scene—A Matsuri—Attractions of the Revel—Matsuri Cars- Gods and Demons—A Possible Harbor—A Village Forge—Prosperity of Sake Brewers—A “Great Sight.” 
TSUGURATA, July 27.

LETTER XXVI
The Fatigues of Traveling—Torrents and Mud—Ito’s Surliness—The Blind Shampooers—A Supposed Monkey Theater—A Suspended Ferry—A Difficult Transit—Perils on the Yonetsurugawa—A Boatman Drowned—Nocturnal Disturbances—A Noisy Yadoya—Storm-bound Travelers—Hai!Hai!--More Nocturnal Disturbances
ODATE, July 29.

LETTER XXVII
Good-tempered Intoxication—The Effect of Sunshine—A tedious Altercation—Evening Occupations—Noisy Talk—Social Gathering—Unfair Comparisons.
SHIRASAWA, July 29.

LETTER XXVIII
Torrents of Rain—An unpleasant Detention—Devastations produced by Floods—The Yadate Pass—The Force of Water—Difficulties thicken—A Primitive Yadoya—The Water rises.
IKARIGASEKI, AOMORI KEN, August 2.

LETTER XXIX
Hope deferred—Effects of the Flood—Activity of the Police—A Ramble in Disguise—The Tanabata Festival—Mr. Satow’s Reputation.
KUROISHI, August 5.

LETTER XXX
A Lady’s Toilet—Hair-dressing—Paint and Cosmetics—Afternoon Visitors—Christian Converts.
KUROISHI, August 5.

LETTER XXXI
A Traveling Curiosity—Rude Dwellings—Primitive Simplicity—The Public Bath-house.
KUROISHI.

LETTER XXXII
A Hard Day’s Journey—An Overturn—Nearing the Ocean—Joyful Excitement—Universal Grayness—Inopportune Policemen—A Stormy Voyage—A Wild Welcome—A Windy Landing—The Journey’s End.
HAKODATE, HOKKAIDO (YEZO), August, 1878.

LETTER XXXIII
Form and Color—A Windy Capital—Eccentricities in House Roofs.
HAKODATE, HOKKAIDO (YEZO), August 13, 1878

LETTER XXXIV
Ito’s Delinquency—“Missionary Manners”—A Predicted Failure.
HAKODATE, HOKKAIDO (YEZO).

LETTER XXXV {17}
A Lovely Sunset—An Official Letter—A “Front Horse”—Japanese Courtesy—The Steam Ferry—Coolies Abscond—A Team of Savages—A Drove of Horses—Floral Beauties—An Unbeaten Track—A Ghostly Dwelling—Solitude and Eeriness.
GINSAINOMA, HOKKAIDO (YEZO), August 17.

LETTER XXXV--(Continued)
The Harmonies of Nature—A Good Horse—A Single Discord—A Forest—Aino Ferrymen—“Les Puces!Les Puces!”—Baffled Explorers—Ito’s Contempt for Ainos—An Aino Introduction.
SARUFUTO.

LETTER XXXVI
Savage Life—A Forest Track—Cleanly Villages—A Hospitable Reception—The Chief’s Mother—The Evening Meal—A Savage
Seance—Libations to the Gods—Nocturnal Silence—Aino Courtesy—The Chief’s Wife.
AINO HUT, BIRATORI, August 23.

LETTER XXXVI--(Continued)
A Supposed Act of Worship—Parental Tenderness—Morning Visits—Wretched Cultivation—Honesty and Generosity—A “Dug-out”—Female Occupations—The Ancient Fate—A New Arrival—A Perilous Prescription—The Shrine of Yoshitsune—The Chief’s Return.

LETTER XXXVII
Barrenness of Savage Life—Irreclaimable Savages—The Aino Physique—Female Comeliness- Torture and Ornament—Child Life—Docility and Obedience.
BIRATORI, HOKKAIDO (YEZO), August 24.

LETTER XXXVII--(Continued)

Aino Clothing—Holiday Dress—Domestic Architecture—Household Gods—Japanese Curios—The Necessaries of Life—Clay Soup—Arrow Poison—Arrow-Traps—Female Occupations—Bark Cloth—The Art of Weaving.

LETTER XXXVIII
A Parting Gift—A Delicacy—Generosity—A Seaside Village—Pipichari’s Advice—A Drunken Revel—Ito’s Prophecies—The Kocho’s Illness—Patent Medicines.
SARUFUTO, HOKKAIDO (YEZO), August 27.

LETTER XXXIX
A Welcome Gift—Recent Changes—Volcanic Phenomena—Interesting Tufa Cones — Semi-strangulation—A Fall into a Bear-trap—The Shiraoi Ainos—Horsebreaking and Cruelty.
OLD MORORAN, VOLCANO BAY, HOKKAIDO (YEZO), September 2.

LETTER XL
“More than Peace”—Geographical Difficulties—Usu-taki—Swimming the Osharu—A Dream of Beauty—A Sunset Effect—A Nocturnal Alarm—The Coast Ainos.
LEBUNGE, VOLCANO BAY, HOKKAIDO (YEZO), September 6.

LETTER XLI
A Group of Fathers—The Lebunge Ainos—The Salisburia adiantifolia- A Family Group—The Missing Link—Oshamambe—Disorderly Horses—The River Yurapu—The Seaside—Aino Canoes—The Last Morning—Dodging Europeans.
HAKODATE, September 12.

LETTER XLII
Pleasant Last Impressions—The Japanese Junk—Ito Disappears—My Letter of Thanks.
HAKODATE, HOKKAIDO (YEZO), September 14, 1878.

LETTER XLIII
Pleasant Prospects—A Miserable Disappointment—Caught in a Typhoon—A Dense Fog—Alarmist Rumors—A Welcome at Tokyo—The
Last of the Mutineers.
H. B. M.’s LEGATION, YEDO, September 21.

LETTER XLIV
Fine Weather—Cremation in Japan—The Governor of Tokyo—An Awkward Question—An Insignificant Building—Economy in Funeral Expenses—Simplicity of the Cremation Process—The Last of Japan.
H. B. M.’s LEGATION, YEDO, December 18.

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