Mountaineering and Exploration
in the Japanese Alps
by Rev. Walter Weston, 1896

 
Weston, The Rev. Walter:
Mountaineering and Exploration in the Japanese Alps by the Reverend Walter Weston, M.A., F.R.G.S.; Member of the Alpine Club: Member of the Asiatic Society of Japan; Member of the Geographical Society of Tokyo, Japan, Late British Chaplain, Kobe, Japan, London, John Murray, 1896, First Edition, 8vo (6 1/2 x 9 1/2 in - 17 x 24 cm), green cloth with the device of the Tomoe-ko, one of the principal societies of Japanese pilgrim-mountaineers in red and gilt on the upper board, 36 illustrations (including 27 full plate) and 2 folding maps (1 b/w topographic map of the Central Japanese Alps and 1 color map of Japan), 346 pp. The 27 full page plates are not numbered and therefore not included in the page total of 346. Weston is know as the "Father of Mountaineering" in Japan, this book being the first published work on Japanese mountain climbing in the English language. Much more than just a book on mountaineering. Weston presents the entire spectrum of people, places and activities he encountered in his travels in the Japan Alps starting in July and August of 1892 through July of 1894.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I.
Books and bookmakers -- Pleasant surprises -- A parable in bronze -- A terra incognita -- A curious tramway -- Karuisawa -- A terrible eruption -- Ascent of a famous volcano -- Noisy neighbours -- Companions in misfortune ..... 1

CHAPTER II.
"Are there any railways in Japan ? " -- Good-bye to civilisation -- The Hofukuji Pass -- A glorious panorama -- Matsumoto -- The landlord -- "Foreign food" -- Yarigatake, "the Matterhorn of Japan" -- Hashiba and the bear hunters -- "Matchless for the complexion" -- Silk filatures -- A lovely valley -- Night quarters-- Unwelcome companions -- The Tokugo Pass -- A grand route -- Bad weather -- Deserted by the guides -- Benighted ..... 13

CHAPTER III.
The basha -- On the Nakasendo -- The Torii-toge -- Mythology and modern art -- Fukushima -- Curious customs -- "The bed of awakening" -- Agematsu -- "The Express Company" -- Seventy miles in a fortnight -- The crossing of Komagatake -- A magnificent panorama -- Hospitable reception -- The Japanese bath -- Mountaineering accidents -- Down the Ina-kaido -- The rapids of the "River of the Heavenly Dragon " -- An exciting voyage -- Civilisation and cyclones ..... 38

CHAPTER IV.
A return to the attack -- The "Island Province" -- Polite appreciation -- -A memorable ride -- A stately shrine -- The sublime and the ridiculous -- Rustic courtesy -- Off for the "Saddle Peak" -- Impromptu surgery -- Humour and pathos -- The Hirayu Pass -- Hirayu and its baths -- Odd bathing customs -- The Norikura mine -- Kind hospitality -- Nocturnal distractions -- A rough climb -- Welcome back -- Congratulations ..... 60

CHAPTER V.
"The Umbrella Peak " -- A wet blanket -- The Abo Pass -- A rustic bridge -- Japanese and kissing -- A grateful patient -- The gorge of the Adzusagawa -- A kindly welcome -- The Spear Peak once more -- Nature's picture gallery -- A novel hot bath -- Delightful bivouac -- A grand scramble -- Yarigatake is ours ..... 81

CHAPTER VI.
Akaiishi San -- An enthusiastic mountaineer -- Humours of the basha -- Takato -- The cold shoulder -- The police to the rescue -- A pleasant surprise -- The "new woman" of Japan -- A laggard rogue -- Curious contrasts -- A princely peasant -- Ascent of the "Red Rock Mountain" -- Alpine storms -- A lonely bivouac -- Polite police -- The Bezoar stone -- Rustic hospitality -- A dreadful apparition -- Unexpected good cheer -- The Fujikawa rapids ..... 97

CHAPTER VII.
A mountain railway -- Zenkoji -- A polite stranger -- Wayfarers in distress -- Curious chimneys -- Palatial accommodation -- Unexpected gratitude -- Interested visitors -- The Harinoki Pass -- A lonely bivouac -- Romantic route -- The hot springs of Ryuzanjita ..... 117

CHAPTER VIII.
The "Beacon Mountain" -- A famous mountaineer -- A wonderful stone -- Feminine temerity -- An interesting summit -- Remarkable solfataras -- "The Great Hell" -- An odd introduction -- A wild ravine -- Primitive bridges-- Toyama ..... 142

CHAPTER IX.
Unwelcome visitors -- A cheery coolie -- The Abo-toge again -- The "cold shoulder" -- Hashiba and Matsumoto -- A wonderful hotel -- The Spartans of Asia -- The lover's stratagem -- Hodakayama -- A grand scramble -- Black currants -- A wasps' nest -- Exorcism -- The village barber -- The blind shampooer -- English as she is Japped ..... 166

CHAPTER X.
The "Matchless Mountain" -- Up the Nakasendo -- Collapse of tho basha -- Nakatsugawa -- Ena San -- "Over the hills and far away" -- Tokimata -- The Tenryugawa -- A typhoon on Fuji -- Over the mountain -- The policeman and the passports -- An ingenious device -- Reading our own obituary notices ..... 192

CHAPTER XI.
The Alps from end to end -- Earthquakes -- Across Japan -- Naoetsu -- A landslip -- The boatmen of Itoigawa -- " ot knowing children nor parents" -- A curious inscription -- A hospitable headman -- An obliging policeman -- Primitive bathing-houses -- "The Lotus Peak" ..... 219

CHAPTER XII.
Perseverance does it -- A narrow shave -- Renewed hospitalities -- Repulsed -- Light at last -- A friend in need -- The hunters and their chieftain -- A grand scramble -- The third time pays for all -- Dismal prospects -- A race against night -- Regretful farewells -- Exploring a new pass -- Matsumoto again -- "English as she is Japped" -- Christianity and its spread -- A kindly headman -- Jonendake -- A tiring scramble -- Romantic bivouac -- Strange legends -- A glorious panorama -- Getting into hot water ..... 241

CHAPTER XIII.
On the Nakasendo again -- The peripatetic cobbler -- Japanese Alpine Clubs -- Off to Ontake -- An obliging official -- Ascetic mountaineers -- Lady climbers -- The new "Excelsior" -- A night in a "club hut" -- A warlike priest -- Dawn on the summit -- Weird worship at sunrise -- "Bringing down the god " -- Descent of the mountain -- A pathetic scene -- Japanese patriotism -- A Spartan mother -- The Japanese "Red Cross Society" -- Kobe once more -- Sayonara to the Alps of Japan ..... 268

CHAPTER XIV.
The origin of "Kami-oroshi" -- Kobo Daishi and Chinese Buddhism -- The root of the matter -- A private seance -- Government prohibitions -- Go-o, the crows and the crops -- The "fox-possession" ..... 294

CHAPTER XV.
"Possession" and "Exorcism" ..... 308

CHAPTER XVI.
Hints on outfit, provisions, etc. ..... 317

APPENDIX A. ..... 327 ¹
APPENDIX B. ..... 330 ²
INDEX ..... 341

¹ Quotes from remarks by W. Gowland before the Royal Geographical Society, December 9, 1895. The remarks deal with mineralogy of the Japan Alps.

² Notes on the Exorcism of Spirits in Korea.

List of Illustrations
  1. THE DAIBTJTSU AT THE TEMPLE OF NOFUKUJI, HYOGG ... To face 3

  2. HODAKA-YAMA (MYOJIN-DAKE)... 26

    "H.J. Hamilton, phot."

  3. RIDGE S. OF YARIGATAKE ... 29 - "T. Hori, phot."
  4. DIPLOMA OF THE TOKYO GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY ... 42
  5. KOBE, FROM THE WEST ... 59 - "Ichida, phot."

  6. BATH-HOUSES OF SIRAHAHONE ONSEN,
    AT THE FOOT OF NOBIKURA ... 83

    "T. Hori, phot."

  7. YARIGATAKE, FROM THE N.E. ... 92

    "T. Hori, phot."

  8. MATSUMOTO CASTLE ... 96 *
  9. FUDO-SAMA ... 124 *
  10. ROOFS AT OMACHI, LOOKING TOWARDS THE HARINOKI-TOGE ... To face 125 - "H.J. Hamilton, phot."
  11. DARUMA ... 128 *
  12. THE MID-DAY MEAL' ... 153 *

  13. POLE-BRIDGE AT THE FOOT OF THE
    ABO-TOGE ... To face 168

    "H.J. Hamilton, phot."

  14. ZOSTJU-BASHI, A BRIDGE AT HASHIBA ... 175

    "H.J. Hamilton, phot."

  15. HODAKAYAMA, FROM THE S.E. ... 178

    "T. Hori, phot."

  16. THE 'THUNDER GOD,' AT THE MAUSOLEUM OF IEMITSU, AT NlKKO ... 183

  17. STREET SCENE IN JAPAN ... 189

  18. SHIRAITO-NO-TAKI, AT THE W. BASE
    OF FUJI-SAN ... 194

    "H.W. Belcher, phot."

  19. FUJI-SAN, WITH CLOUD CAP, FROM THE SOUTH-WEST ... 209

    "Walter Weston, phot."

  20. OYASHIRADZU, THE NORTHERN POINT OF THE
    JAPANESE ALPS ... To face 224

    "H.J. Hamilton, phot."

  21. ON THE SEA OF JAPAN ... 225 *
  22. BATH-HOUSES AT RENGE ONSEN ... To face 229 - "H.J. Hamilton, phot."
  23. YUKIKURADAKE, FROM ABOVE THE RENGE ONSEN ... 232 - "H.J. Hamilton, phot."

  24. THE HUNTER CHIEFTAIN OF NAKAO ... 244

    "H.J. Hamilton, phot."

  25. BEAR-HUNTERS OF NAKAO ... 255

    "H.J. Hamilton, phot."

  26. IRRIGATING WHEELS IN THE RICE-FIELDS ... 257 - "H.W. Belcher, phot."

  27. HOUSE OF THE 'HEAD-MAN' OF IWAHARA ... 258

    "H.J. Hamilton, phot."

  28. FUKUSHIMA, ON THE NAKASENDO ... 271 - "H.W. Belcher, phot."
  29. A PILGRIM BAND ON ONTAKE ... 272 - "H.J. Hamilton, phot."
  30. THE SHRINE ON THE SUMMIT OF ONTAKE ... 279 - "H.J. Hamilton, phot."
  31. DIAGRAMS OF KUJI-GO-SHIMPO AND IN-MUSUBI, FROM AN ILLUSTRATED MANUAL ... 281 *

  32. FUKAN REIJIN, A PIONEER OF THE JAPANESE ALPS ... 283

    "From a Kakemono."

  33. IN THE 'PARADISE OF BABIES' -- WHERE "CHILDREN NEVER CRY" ... 288 - "K. Tamamura, phot."
  34. 'TRUE TILL DEATH' -- THE BUGLER SHIRAKAMI GENJIRO, AT THE BATTLE OF SONG-HWAN ... 289 *
  35. WOUNDED CHINESE PRISONERS BROUGHT INTO A JAPANESE FIELD - HOSPITAL DURING THE WAR ... 291 *

    MAPS (At the end of the volume).

    THE CENTRAL JAPANESE ALPS
    GENERAL MAP OF JAPAN

* These 8 illustrations are text illustrations.

All the other 27 listed illustrations and the 2 maps are full plate.

At page 114 there is a text illustration that is not listed. The illustration does not have a title. It is a drawing of a wooden in-door hot bath. With this illustration there are a total of 36 illustrations, 9 of which are text illustrations and two fold out maps.

 

Title Page

Paste on reading: "Imported by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York."
Under that reads: "London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1896."

 

 
Water Weston was born in Derby, England in 1861. After graduating from Clare College at Cambridge University, Water Weston attended Lidley Theological School and became a preacher in 1855.

In 1888 he went to Japan as a preacher sent by C.M.S. (Church Missionary Society) and stayed in the churches of Kumamoto and Kobe for about seven years. He climbed Mt. Fuji, Mt. Aso, Mt. Sobo, Mt. Kirisima, and Mt. Sakurajima. He also climbed the mountain ranges in the central region of the main island from 1891 to 1894.

In 1896 Weston returned temporarily to England and his first book, Mountaineering and Exploration in the Japanese Alps, was published at that time.

Other books by Reverend Walter Weston:

  • 1918, The Playground of the Far East, London, John Murray, 8vo, red cloth gilt badge of the Japanese Alpine Club on front cover and title in gilt on spine, plates, 2 folding colored maps with author's route in red, 333 pp.
  • 1925, A Wayfarer in Unfamiliar Japan, London, Methuen, 8vo, red cloth, 40 illustrations with 23 full page plates, front end-paper maps, 207 pp. Same book the next year in a US edition, Boston, 1926, Houghton, red cloth, 207pp.
  • 1926, Japan, A. & C. Black, London, 8vo, 32 full page color plates and map, 240 pp.
  • 1999, all four books above, reprinted, Ganesha Publishing, 1380 pp.
 
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