Isabella Bird the Manga

I listen to audiobooks to go to sleep, usually non fiction books so that if I miss part of the book, no problem...and happened upon one by Isabella Bird, an intrepid British lady, about when she visited the rockies.

She was a single woman in her early forties when she made her treck through the Rocky Mountains. A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains details this fascinating account of her travels through a series of letters written to her sister, Henrietta. These letters are filled with beautiful, vivid descriptions of the scenery, the people she encountered, the way of life, and a mountain man named Jim Nugent, that was as rough as they come, but a complete gentleman with Ms. Bird. She has the distinction of being the first woman to become a member of the Royal Geographical Society in 1892.

what impressed me is that while staying there for part of the winter in a small cabin with two men, she did her share of the work, including making bread and doing her share of the housekeeping, meaning she wasn't a shrinking violet. And she could ride a horse...even in a snowstorm, which made me shudder since even today these storms can get you stranded even on modern roads...

well, now I'm working through her book on travels through Japan. 

Lots of complaints on how the poor folk are small and dirty, and about her problem in finding proper food, and about the horses, which she hated because they were mean spirited...

I thought: duh: white privilege. Except of course that she said the same thing about the places she visited in Rockies;

and it's nice to have someone who actually noticed the poor people as people, instead of gushing only about the Samurai and the rich and westernized Japanese and ignoring the rest of the population.

I was especially fascinated by her description of the Ainu people of northern Japan describing them as fierce but friendly, and describing how they wore leather or bark-fiber clothing.

article on bark fiber clothing

Picture of the “Ainu of Yezo” that appeared in Unbeaten Tracks in Japan. (Courtesy of the author)

here is a critical essay about Isabella Bird from the Japanese point of view by Professor Kanasaka Kiyonori who discusses her book (and contrasting the entire book with the more popular edited version). He points out her interest was also about informing possible missionaries about the culture, but he also points out how she was a good observer of Japanese culture, and that the Japanese were delighted in cooperating with her travels.

and here is a video of the professor discussing her and her trip: warning a bit academic.



and if you aren't up to the book, there is a Manga (in English) about her trip for your reading pleasure:

LINK