PORTRAITS OF JAPANDISCOVERING THE UNKNOWN JAPAN WITH

ISABELLA
BIRD

The female English traveler Isabella Bird traveled Japanin the second half of the 19th century, penning atravelogue on the country’s hitherto unknown culture andnatural features. What was the real Japan she observed
and why does it enthrall the reader still to this day?

When she first visited Japan in 1878, Bird had
Travel remains difficult as thealready been celebrated for her travelogue of theCOVID-19 pandemic continues,
Hawaiian Islands. By applying all her priorexperience and her keen sense of duty, she
but the world of exploration andsuccessfully completed the arduous journey at a timeadventure can still be experienced
when movement around Japan by foreign visitors
was heavily restricted (Photo taken in 1881).
via the pages of a travelogue. AKANASAKA KIYONORI
high-quality travelogue offers thereader information about a land’s
and is filled with invaluable stories
allure that is not available throughfrom her traveling experiences.
daily news sources or regular
Bird recorded extensive accounts
guidebooks. Isabella Bird was aof the indigenous Ainu settlementspioneer of such travelogues aboutat Biratori in Hokkaido, one ofJapan, having first visited fromthe major Ainu centers, detailingher home country of England ineverything from daily life to1878.
MAP OF
familial relationships and religious
ISABELLA
At the time of this visit, Japan
BIRD’Sbeliefs. Meanwhile, at Ise Shrine
had already been exposed to theTRAVELS
and at Nishi-Hongwanji Temple
outside world for more thanin Kyoto, she wrote in detailtwo decades (having ended its
about the buildings’ interiors,
more than two-century policy ofwhich were known to very few
isolation in 1854), and Westernpeople, even among the Japanese.
culture was rapidly entering and“These special experiences weretransforming the country. In thepossible thanks to Parkes enlisting“interior,” however, the culture
the support of the Japanese
had remained largely unchanged.
government and making thoroughIn response to a request by thepreparations,” says KANASAKA
British consul-general in Japan,Kiyonori, professor emeritus atHarry Parkes, who wanted toBASED ON A SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF A MAP PRODUCED
Kyoto University, who in 2020
show the world the real Japan,
BY KANASAKA KIYONORI AND MIZUTANI KAZUHIKO (2020).
Bird embarked upon a roughly At the time, a special permit was required for foreigners published the highly acclaimed
reprint Unbeaten Tracks inseven-month journey covering to travel in the “interior,” the area beyond the 40 kmof the two open cities and the five open ports
Japan:
Revisiting
Isabellamore than 4,500 km, traveling radius(the four shown on the map plus Nagasaki).
Bird. Due to Bird’s visuallynorth from her base in Tokyo toHokkaido, then west through the Kansai region to illustrative portrayals formed from her keen powers
Ise Shrine. Her two-volume, 800-page travelogue, of observation and her unparalleled meticulous
Unbeaten Tracks in Japan: An Account of Travels in the accounts—often based on the research available at
Interior Including Visits to the Aborigines of Yezo and the time—her work still serves as a valuable resource
the Shrines of Nikkō and Isé, was published in 1880, for understanding what Japan was like in the late

19th century.
Bird vividly described customs and cultural
practices that she experienced through encounterson her travels. With the cooperation of locals, she
had the rare opportunity to attend a wedding anda funeral and to have children show her traditional
games. In her lively depictions of the various people
she interacted with, Bird clearly presented Japanesevalues such as omotenashi (the spirit of hospitality)
and Japanese politeness. In an account of her stay
The long-fire lights up as
magnificent a set ofvenerable heads as painteror sculptor would desire tosee……I hope I shall neverforget the music of their low,
sweet voices, the soft lightof their mild, brown eyes,
and the wonderful
sweetness of their smile.

KANASAKA KIYONORI, IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ISABELLA BIRD: ADVENTURES IN TWIN TIME TRAVELKANASAKA KIYONORI, ISABELLA BIRD
AND JAPAN: A REASSESSMENT

From this court another flight of steps
ascends to the Yomei gate, whose splendour
I contemplated day after day with increasing
astonishment. The white columns which
support it have capitals formed of great
red-throated heads of the mythical Kirin.

Usu is a dream of beauty and peace…… In theexquisite inlet where I spent the night, trees andtrailers drooped into the water and were mirroredin it, their green, heavy shadows lying sharp against
the sunset gold and pink of the rest of the bay.

in Tenoko, Yamagata Prefecture, she wrote: “Whenthe women of the house saw that I felt the heat theygracefully produced fans and fanned me for a wholehour. On asking the charge, they refused to make any,
and would not receive anything... I told them truly
that I should remember them as long as I remember
Japan, and went on, much touched by their kindness.”
The appeal of Japan that Bird repeatedly describedthroughout her writings can be felt as strongly now
as it could then, whether it be at the stately Nikko
Toshogu Shrine or Hokkaido’s Usu Bay with its
beautiful scenery. Professor Kanasaka says, “Fromnature to people, society, and culture, Bird richly
depicted the distinctive and inherent qualities she
perceived in her observations. That is the most
captivating thing about her travelogue.” What betterway to experience Japan from afar than to delve into
Bird’s travel writings? KANASAKA KIYONORI, IN THE FOOTSTEPS OFISABELLA BIRD: ADVENTURES IN TWIN TIME TRAVEL