Unbeaten Tracks in Japan: An Account of Travels in the Interior Including Visits to the Aborigines of Yezo and the Shrine of Nikko. by Isabella L. Bird - 1973.

Rutland, VT Charles E. Tuttle , 1973. Paperback First Edition Thus [1973], so stated. Fine in Wraps: binding square and secure; text clean. Virtually 'As New'. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 12mo. 336pp. Introduction to this new edition by Terence Barrow, Ph.D., First Edition Thus [1973], so stated. Mass Market 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 were the bugs and the rain storms and the rivers, etc., etc. This book is beyond well-written and a joy to read - it is a timeless classic.