A timeless travel-writing classic that inspired the film, with photography by Yoichi Midorikawa.

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.

The book that cemented Donald Richie's reputation as a master of observation. With lucid prose, Richie searches for the heart of Japan among the waters sheltered between Japan's major islands. Included are the twenty black and white photographs by Yoichi Midorikawa that accompanied the original 1971 edition.