LITMIR.BIZ

      PRINTED IN JAPAN

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      Throughout my life I have found great pleasure in trying to capture the beauty of natural and man-made creations with brush and ink, and during the past 75 years I have pursued my work with satisfaction. Early in my life, while under the tutelage of Moniwa Chikusen, master of the classical Tosa school of Japanese painting, I had the opportunity to visit important historical places in Japan with the old Japanese master painters.

      Over the past several years I have accompanied various excursive groups from the United States on tours of these places. It is hoped that these simple brush-and-ink paintings may convey a fraction of the natural beauty radiating from Japan.

      In trying to convey my impressions of the historic and scenic sites, I have attempted to paint the atmosphere with the customs that the people practice and the words they use. The name and description of a place, in translation, may not allow the image to be clear, so I have retained much of the commonly used Japanese terms. For example, Mt. Fuji is sometimes referred to as Fuji-san; Lake Biwa, as Biwako. In some cases, the reference to a place name such as Hakone, or Katsu-ura is the same for both English and Japanese. The following may serve as a guide to some of the Japanese terms used in the text:

      In addition, when referring to person's names the Japanese form of surname first followed by the given name has been retained.

      I am indebted to my old friend Wilder Bentley, associate professor of English, San Francisco State College, for polishing the English of my accompanying narrative commentaries, and also to Diana Wheeler, secretary of the English Department, for her assistance to him in the task of preparing the final copy.

      CHIURA 0BATA

      SKETCH TOUR

      § 1. The Human Wave of Tokyo

      Imagine this city of over ten million people, this capital city whose population accounts for more than a tenth of the Japanese nation. Everywhere one looks there is bustle and stir; every place a person walks he feels himself colliding with a tidal wave of humanity, whether in the Ginza, Asakusa, Ueno, Tokyo Station, Hibiya, or any other district of this megapolis. Then, too, one is aware of endless buildings rising toward the heavens. At such moments one feels as though he were hopelessly trapped by these waves of humanity between the endless man-made canyon walls; so much so that once he finds himself again in the open countryside where the old eternal modes of farming persist, it is as though he had been suddenly transported to another world remote from modern man.

      § 2. Visitors at the Imperial Palace Plaza

      On longer acquaintance, however, after the visitor has became more used to the throngs of people everywhere on the streets of Tokyo, he becomes aware of individuals and types. For example, here at the Imperial Palace Plaza, he sees many groups of

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