I have been reading this book This week I have been reading “Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (Japanese translated version)” by Isabella Bird who was an English explorer in the late 19th century. There are many Japan travel diaries written by foreign people in the transition period between feudal era and Meiji era. Most of them are described urban areas such as Tokyo, Yokohama, Kyoto, etc., while she focused rural areas of Northern Japan. In this book, Japan and Japanese are depicted from a western viewpoint of that time. She wrote down frankly the Pros and Cons of Japan, and it shows that she was shocked by Japanese lifestyle and behaviors including food, climate, sanitary conditions, people’s appearance, traditional music, and so on. For me as a Japanese, it is surprised by the differences between our lifestyle then and now, at the same time, I realize that our thoughts and attitudes remain essentially the same.