Tokyo Ebisu Book Club - Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella L. Bird

*Read the book (or most of It)* *Order a drink/food at the counter* *Enjoy discussing with your fellow book-lovers!* *We split into groups for the discussion.* \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ **September’s book is*:* Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella L. Bird** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ ***Isabella L. Bird's voyage to Japan in the 1870s reveals a country steeped in ancient customs and a rugged landscape of beautiful, flowing hills and country pathways.*** *As of the first Western women to author a book about the Japanese islands, Isabella Bird was keen to relay her observations as accurately as she could manage. The isolationist policy of Japan, which forbade any foreigners from travelling inland, had only recently been lifted. Bird was thus able to witness the urban culture of Tokyo and the rural areas surrounding it, together with the large, northerly island of Hokkaido.* *The author offers her observations of the architecture and customs of the native Japanese, and later the Ainu minority ethnic group. Northern Japan's rural culture is revealed as being enormously different from the modern society the world knows today. Modern residents or aficionados of Japan will however recognize many surviving hallmarks, such as the supreme hospitality and generally well-mannered behavior of the locals.* \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ Directions can be found at bottom of [www.footnik.com](http://www.footnik.com)