Mountaineering and Exploration in the Japanese Alps

by Walter Weston

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896 edition. ...promised to call me at 3'30, but at 345 I awoke to find the house resounding with snores, and my landlord still blissfully buried in futon and forgetfulness. At 5 o'clock, however, my coolies and I were on the march. The younger of the two men, who turned out to be a farmer from the Takayama plain, was the speedier, and treated the long tramp through the pouring rain as a huge joke. I asked him the name of a particularly fine variety of wild raspberries which I found near the top of the pass. He called them uma-ichigo, "horse strawberries." To further enquiries about botanical subjects, his invariable reply was " Wagi wa shiranosu," a very oddly-sounding corruption of vjatakushi wa shiranu (" I don't know "). The pronunciation of some of the words used by the Hida mountain dwellers is very curious, and I have sometimes found myself, after several seasons' travel amongst them, called upon to interpret between them and their own fellow-countrymen from distant parts. A perversion of the vowels is very common, nil rii (two ri), for instance, being frequently heard for ni ri. By 9 o'clock we reached the Azusagawa, and crossed the pair of long, thin, barkless pine poles that serve for a bridge. Previous recollections of this Blondin-like passage had made me cautious, and I successfully slid over the wet, slippery, swaying trunks (after the manner of an acrobat on a slack wire), with loaraji tied beneath the soles of my boots. On the top of the Hi-no-ki-tdge (" the pass of the pine trees") I found the withered old dame who had charge of the little rest-house had improved her resources, and now added tea to her store of dried peas. With delightful anticipations of a rest at the house where last year my...

80 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2013

Reviews

[DaveD · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, but difficult read. It is basically the memoirs of Walter Weston, one of the first foreigners to do extensive climbing in the Japanese Alps. I enjoyed reading about how things were in his time when he went climbing and reading about his various experiences. I glazed over the last couple chapters that started to get into cultural stuff with purification etc, but did find that last chapter about his recommended equipment amusing. If you have an interest in the history of mountaineering in Japan, it's definitely worth a look, but can get boring at points.

[Hydi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely just a copy of the original book but a very interesting read for someone interested in Japan, history and mountain climbing.