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Photographs of 19th Century Japan

(cosmographia.substack.com)
444 points merothwell | 9 comments | 09 Apr 25 12:20 UTC | HN request time: 0.417s | source | bottom
1. xandrius ◴[09 Apr 25 20:44 UTC] No.43637731[source]▶
And this stuff is why I love either super creative science fiction or travelogues (and the formers are hard to find).

You can try to imagine a brand new world or simply try to re-live our real and past world. To me that is even more amazing, as it often can be the door to understanding some things of today's cultures and/or discover lost little worlds.

Currently I'm going through this book of a guy who cycled across Central Asia and in Japan. The guy is sometimes quite direct in his writing (unlike other writers) but it's so interesting to experience the world of just 100-200 years ago through the lens of one living there. I truly recommend it.

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2. decimalenough ◴[09 Apr 25 22:59 UTC] No.43638905[source]▶
Can you share the name & author of the book?

I'll plug Wilfred Thesiger's Arabian Sands as an extraordinary deep dive into a world that's entirely disappeared in our lifetimes:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/825419.Arabian_Sands

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3. mc3301 ◴[10 Apr 25 00:50 UTC] No.43639555[source]▶
Is it "Around the world on a bicycle"? I, too, would like to know the name of this book. Sounds interesting!
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4. imp0cat ◴[10 Apr 25 04:22 UTC] No.43640595[source]▶
https://www.japanbiking.com/tours-2/previous-tours/thomas-st...

Both books (not just Japan, he cycled around the world): https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1710

5. Cthulhu_ ◴[10 Apr 25 07:04 UTC] No.43641426[source]▶
Some video games try and do the former; I play too much FFXIV and a recurring theme there is that you go to a new area and you get the tourist's experience, tour the area, view the sights, meet the locals, figure out the local history and culture, etc.

Sure, it's kind of superficial, usually based on human civilizations / design trends / etc; that is:

* Heavensward: Europe / traditional knights and castles and church stuffs

* Stormblood: East-Asia / Japan, clearly a favorite thing to work on from the developers

* Shadowbringers: is actually pretty independent

* Endwalker: Rome / Greece on the one side, India on the other, philosophical existential crises in the late game (that part is actually really good, they invented multiple (7-8 or so?) different civilizations who all achieved some kind of immortality and pursued the meaning of life, ending up disillusioned)

* Dawntrail (latest): south & mesoamerica on the one side, cyberpunk sci-fi on the other

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6. xandrius ◴[10 Apr 25 07:10 UTC] No.43641465[source]▶
Yeah, I saw that concept but I always feel like I'm supposed to be 6 years old to enjoy the interactions and the dialogue (both in FFXIV and FFXV). Also the "tourist moment" felt too much the canned tourist experience where everything is perfect, clean and everyone nice.

Instead travelogues are not that, they are not about being perfect or beautiful, it's about the places and people being as they are, however they are.

Didn't try all ths games you mentioned, I will take a look. Thanks!

7. xandrius ◴[10 Apr 25 07:12 UTC] No.43641475[source]▶
Thomas Stevens, really an interesting character. He sometimes makes sweeping generalisations, which makes his writing even more real and not filtered.
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8. lproven ◴[10 Apr 25 11:59 UTC] No.43642960[source]▶
> this book of a guy who cycled across Central Asia and in Japan

Go on, give us a clue. Title, author, even language...?

9. damnitbuilds ◴[10 Apr 25 12:27 UTC] No.43643127{3}[source]▶
One suspects "Bloody hell, car drivers are selfish bastards" sprung from his lips a couple of times.