"An elegiac prose celebration . . . a classic in its genre."—Publishers Weekly

In this acclaimed travel memoir, Donald Richie paints a memorable portrait of the island-studded Inland Sea. His existential ruminations on food, culture, and love and his brilliant descriptions of life and landscape are a window into an Old Japan that has now nearly vanished. Included are the twenty black and white photographs by Yoichi Midorikawa that accompanied the original 1971 edition.

Donald Richie (1924–2013) was an internationally recognized expert on Japanese culture and film.

Yoichi Midorikawa (1915–2001) was one of Japan's foremost nature photographers.