Hildreth's "Japan as It Was and Is": A Handbook of Old Japan, Volume 2 (of 2)

A practical, observational handbook of traditional Japan that details travel routes, post-houses, inns, and the systems for messengers and transport, alongside descriptions of houses, furnishings, bathing, gardens, and refreshment houses. It surveys social life on the road—pilgrims, retinues, peddlers, and entertainers—and outlines civic structures such as markets, manufactures, policing, and official audiences. The narrative follows journeys between ports and regional centers, notes interactions with foreign traders, and catalogs religious practices, ceremonies, theatrical entertainments, funerary and wedding rites, and agricultural and artisanal processes, supplemented by maps and numerous illustrations to support its ethnographic and practical observations.